The Department of Magical Integration
by Ornery Otter
Summary: In the wake of the Blood War the Magical world is on the verge of being discovered. In an effort to foster positive opinion, the idea to precede the intro to the magical world to non-magicals as a VRMMO is proposed. Harry is determined to enjoy the anonymity and have a blast. Inspired by SAO and Esama's 'Off the Line' VRMMO stories.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: This is a little slow to start - I wanted more actual activity in the first chapter but it came out a lot more narrative - but don't worry, it should kick off properly in the next chapter, now I've laid down the groundwork. I'm hoping to make this more than just a short, but we'll see.

Chapter 1

In the end, they'd decided to do it with a VRMMO.

It was a muggleborns idea of course - to use the technology that posed such a threat to the wizarding world. Anyone with eyes and any sense knew that it was just a matter of time until the muggle world spotted them - technology was just so advanced now. The wizarding people had found themselves pushed further and further into the edges of civilisation as electronic registration and tracking became standard for non-magical citizens. No longer could children just disappear at age eleven without it being noticed, nor could they so easily reappear as adults, lacking any history of any kind in those intervening years. Not to mention how magical borns could no longer interface with the muggle world at all, without recognised identities.

Not that many cared of course - the magical world was an insular place and most people seemed to believe they had no need to interact with the rest of the world at all. A fallacy of course - especially as the muggle satellites and other wide-scale systems improved and began noticing them. They'd delayed the wizarding world's discovery by sending out muggleborns to turn the world's gaze away from them - people who could slip by with the knowledge they had, gain more and implement it quickly. Hacking into a satellite wasn't nearly so difficult when you could access the restricted terminals that controlled them. It was a temporary fix, but it bought them time to figure out what to do next - how they were going to deal with being discovered.

Truthfully, Hermione was astounded that they hadn't been discovered much sooner. Obliviations did little when someone recorded the whole thing on their camera phone, but for the last few years they'd gotten lucky more times than could be counted. Mostly because she'd finally managed to get approved her plan of having magical introductions to muggleborn families at a far far earlier age than eleven. Not only did it mean that there was less attention brought to panicking parents as their children accomplished strange and impossible feats, but it also meant more eyes in the street who actually knew what was going on when something strange happened. It had been muggleborn families who had helped keep the secret of magic lately, something which galled many who had claimed that it would be they who revealed the secret of their world.

In the wake of the last wizarding war more lives had been lost than any other magical war. It wasn't only the death toll that had brought such great change, it was the effect of the final year, of living in a United Kingdom occupied by a madman and his vicious followers. Everyone had experienced some of the horror, the fear and oppression as friends and family turned against eachother out of sheer fear, often merely for the amusement of those in charge. Nearly everyone had been hurt, tormented and lost loved ones under Voldemort's reign, and when his regime had been overthrown, those left alive had finally taken their stand as well. The fighting may have been over with the threat of pain and loss no longer hanging over their heads, the British magicals had taken a strong stand against blood supremacy.

A bit too strongly in truth - while she couldn't deny that many death eaters deserved the death penalty in her opinion, there were many who had been press-ganged into service and that ought to reflect in their punishment.

What had definitely helped were the muggleborns. Once the dust had settled and literally a few days after Kingsley was instated as the new Minister for Magic, a plea and a promise had been sent out to the muggleborns who had fled the kingdom, in the hopes of having them return. The population had taken a huge hit and it was likely the only time that revolution could take place without massive opposition. Taking the helm of course, Hermione had coordinated as much as she could. While Harry and the rest of the Hogwarts crew had set about dealing with the castle and everyone who had fought and died there - on both sides - she had gotten herself elbow-deep into the ministry.

There was actually very little talk of change at first - it just happened. With the majority of the Wizengamot either dead in battle, or with a dark mark on their arm all the same, the body of law was excluded entirely. Instead most of the worst of the laws were changed in a small meeting room with just a few key members - herself, Kingsley and Tiberius Ogdon - a Wizengamot member that resigned before the war broke out. Andromeda Tonks intermittently helped, when she wasn't grieving and trying to cope with her grandson, and sometimes others would be consulted if a law in their field was being analysed - from asking Filius Flitwick about Goblin-related issues to asking a house elf its opinion to laws regarding it. Coming from a dark-aligned family, Andromeda's insight was actually very useful, as she had heard enough from her youth about how some of those laws could be twisted for dark purposes, and her suggestions filled in many loopholes that had previously been used by her family.

Of course most of the laws that were focused on were equality laws. Not just for non-magicals and magical creatures, but even the rest of the magical folk. Some of the laws regarding marriage and ownership were quite archaic and it took little to make changes to them now, when their biggest opposition were either dead or imprisoned.

The greatest change was one that was also the most important, and encompassed most of the amended or overturned laws - the understanding that every sentient being had rights.

Normally Hermione would feel it underhanded, what they did - to take advantage of the situation and the free reign they had been given to enact these changes, but she couldn't, when all they were doing was pushing through the concept of sentient rights.

There were many more changes they could have made but those were the urgent ones, the ones that they couldn't afford to fight about. Once those had been dealt with, attention was turned back to rebuilding and coping in the aftermath of the war - the rest of the laws could be addressed properly in an open forum once the country was restabilised.

By the time they were done with those laws, Harry and the rest at Hogwarts had completed the preliminary clean up. Debris swept and bodies collected, the castle was inhabitable excluding certain sections and funerals had already started taking place. Every body had been identified, and if not collected then set aside for a mass burial at the end. Those that weren't collected were mostly Dark, or had lost those family and friends who might have claimed them.

Hermione learned more about magical funeral rights in that week than she ever wanted to - and there were many. From simple affairs that weren't all that different to a muggle funeral, to some elaborate and highly magical rituals. Many chose to bury their dead in family lots, or in the graveyard not far from the lake, near Dumbledore's tomb. It would have been a riot to suggest that the death eaters be buried there also so instead they were buried on the other side of the lake, if they weren't known to have committed any great crime, and if they had then their bodies were sent through the veil - in the hopes that their tainted spirits would go with them and be taken from the land.

But once the wreckage of the war started to clear up, problems that had been previously set aside began to crop up again, and there were no longer the excuses of burying their dead to delay them. While a great deal of time was still spent questioning Dark survivors and discerning their guilt and punishment, the muggle government could be delayed no longer.

Those first few meetings were difficult, of course. The magical government was still in disarray - Hermione herself had been attending a great many meetings and doing a lot of things that she technically wasn't allowed to - she had no post or title, no authority within that, and yet she stood beside Kingsley when he went to speak with the Prime Minister and the Queen. Her youth and her drive were surprisingly useful in that setting, particularly when the muggle Prime Minister attempted to make demands that just weren't reasonable, regardless of the situation with the destabilized magical government.

The magical war had encroached heavily into the muggle world of course - the only reason that the secret of magic wasn't all over the web was because death eaters had killed any muggle who saw them. That coupled with the muggle side trying to keep it quiet too, talking about terrorist attacks all year they'd managed to keep a lid on it. Of course the Prime Minister was raging - he wasn't likely to get re-elected given the public opinion right now - they hadn't been able to do anything about the so-caleld 'terrorist attacks' after all, but they'd managed to soothe that with promises of improved relations and evidence that the war was over for good. To begin with, they promised to get recorded footage of some of the remaining death-eaters, to give the muggle people faces to the 'terrorists' that had been haunting them so long. Most of the worst were already through the veil of course, but there were a few still being interrogated - in the end it was a recording of Jugson that was sent to the Minister as the death eater spouted vitriol to Hermione herself in fact.

That recorded was released and went viral pretty quickly, and it was the first time that the magical and non-magical government had cooperated in such a way. Jugson's diatribe had been broad enough to not raise red flags about magic and so could be released to the muggle public. Unfortunately while he truth about magic may not have been advertised, there were plenty of people who knew something wasn't right. People had been disappearing seemingly impossibly all year after all, and there were enough inconsistencies for people to realise something wasn't quite right. Nobody pressed though - everyone just wanted to forget about it all for now.

And as time passed, things began to improve. Not just in the magical world, but the muggle too - people started to recover from the dark time. Unfortunately despite that they were still more wary than before, especially when it came to strange things happening, and they knew it would take something big to change public opinion in their favor. The muggle technology pushed closer and closer every day as it advanced. It reacted with their magic, and it didn't take long before people started noticing when their electronics didn't work around certain area. As it got worse and worse, the magical population could no longer hold against it without risking discovery. Eventually magicals were forced to leave the towns and cities entirely, though not many actually lived within the main cities by that point, not after Voldemort had targetted most of them who did so and had them killed for 'conspiring with muggles' during the war.

Things were starting to get difficult though. While the school, even the government were getting back on their feet, it didn't change the fact that muggles were reacting poorly to the magical world. It didn't take them long to find out that the troubles they'd been having had been of a magical nature and they didn't react kindly. Many magical children had to be removed from their homes in that first year, as their parents reacted so badly to the knowledge of what they were and the things they could do. It put pressure on an already taxed magical society, where people were still grieving their losses and couldn't bear to take in the orphaned children.

It did get better, little by little, but not enough. With such reactions from the parents of muggleborn children, there was great fear about what would happen when it could no longer be denied that the magical world existed.

That was when they decided that they had to do something about the public sentiment. Trying to make people more open and accepting to something without actually divulging what that something was, that was a task, but eventually a solution was provided. By that point the muggles had continued to advance, pressing the limits of reality and capability. The idea of making a VRMMO was suggested by a muggleborn boy who had a non-magical sibling who played them extensively. Hoping to bond with his brother had joined in playing the online game and seem how popular and immersive it was. The boy had hoped at first to create some kind of virtual reality of Hogwarts, so his brother could experience it with him in some way, but the idea had quickly evolved.

By the time that the idea reached Hermione Granger, the magical government was no longer a ruin they stepped through each day. In fact it wasn't the ministry of magic building as it had been at all - given the damage done to it and the fact the dark memories within it, the ministry had been rebuilt outside the capital. Instead the old space had been converted into the new Diagon Alley, as the previous location had been similarly wrecked and was far more likely to be discovered by the advancing technology, than if the bustling high street were moved to the underground ministry building.

Hermione had a desk now, and an office even, within the newly erected Department of Magical Integration. She still didn't have an official title but it didn't stop her from being involved in a great deal. Thankfully Kingsley had hired his own secretary so she was no longer doubling as that anymore, and instead had the time to focus on the muggle/magical problem. By that point it was pretty much guaranteed that they were going to be discovered at some point, but even if their luck held and it never happen then it was still worth putting in he effort to create plans just in case. Among them however, was the kindling of an idea, posed by that muggleborn boy who'd wanted to show his brother Hogwarts in a virtual reality game.

The fallout from the Magical Reveal would be far lighter if the people already had some idea what to expect. It certainly couldn't hurt anyway - while mixing magic and technology was a feat only just starting out, it would be a challenge to strive for. And while the technology wasn't there yet, already they had people out and recording key magical landmarks - including the now-abandoned Diagon Alley, the new one within the old ministry building, and of course Hogwarts itself. They even had Hagrid keep a recording of his progress through the Forbidden forest - centaurs and acromantula included.

She only hoped it'd be enough to lessen the fallout, but as time went on and the sense of urgency eased just a bit and the virtualisation of the magical world got underway, Hermione had a more pressing thought on her mind for the virtual game.

She hoped it would be fun, because she definitely wanted to play.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So how's it looking?"

He could hear her, but it was still weird, knowing she was talking to him from outside.

"Everything looks good - just like on the screen...but its like I'm actually here." She could hear the smile in his voice through the speakers, though his face remained as motionless as the rest of him beside her. They were both getting used to seeing it, but it was still strange. "The scale looks okay - everything seems to look about right to me." That wasn't saying much at this point though - he was standing in a simple woodland, looking at his own hands for comparison mostly. At least it meant that his metaphysical self seemed anatomically correct so far as he could tell.

The VRMMO hadn't quite entered the testing stage yet, but she'd asked Harry if he could help her to make sure that everything was okay within the game itself. While there was now a small team working on the Magic Online project within the Department of Magical Integration, but they mostly worked from outside the game itself. Having Harry dive in and make sure that everything looked and worked the way it was supposed to meant that they could catch any issues early, though that wasn't the only reason he was doing It.

Truthfully, it was a way for Hermione to give something back to her friend. It had been almost a year since the battle at Hogwarts and once the rebuilding had finished and people were getting back on their feet, life changed for Harry. People began treating him like a celebrity, and while it rarely got out of hand, for a private and not that sociable boy like Harry, it made him incredibly uncomfortable. He couldn't go out without people coming up to him, or staring at him, things like that. In the early days, the minister had asked everyone gently to leave the survivors and the fighters alone - to not overwhelm them if at all possible. It wasn't just for Harry - there were many who had fought, who didn't want to be reminded of it or thanked for it. A great many people were healing from that year - from what they had done and what had been done to them, having people flock them in the streets to thank them just made those twisted feelings even more difficult to manage.

Curbing what the public could get away with was something fairly high on Kingsley's priority list, but something that had to be done in a fairly passive manner, lest it seem too oppressive. The fact of the matter though, was that people had been doing near enough whatever they wanted during Voldemort's regime - those in power had had free reign, so those who had joined the Dark ministry were used to having no consequences for their actions against others, while those who had suffered now wanted the tables turned. It was a difficult situation.

So far things hadn't been too bad though - once it became clear that order was in place and everyone should adhere to at least the basic tenets of society (don't steal, don't injure etc) then things got better a lot quicker. Frankly so many people had lost loved ones and suffered, they all understood that it wasn't right to cause pain to anyone else - even if all it took sometimes was just the wrong word in a sentence that reminded them of someone they had lost.

Thankfully, nobody stood for negativity for some time - morale was important those first months and once it became an unwritten rule for nobody to upset anyone else then even when it was no longer quite so important, people still followed that rule. Of course not everyone did - there were always trouble makers, or those who just weren't capable of being particularly nice, but still, it made a difference.

Either way, it drove Harry to stay hidden behind thick walls and in dark places - out of sight. He still wanted to help though, which was why Hermione was constantly roping him into her projects. The Magical World Online was something that he had slowly developed an interest in, as Hermione explained the concept to him - it wasn't like he had much experience on computers beyond what was taught in primary school. Once he'd grasped what they were trying to do though, he was much more interested even if he wasn't sure how to help.

Hermione however, was exceptionally pleased with being able to get Harry on board. Not only for his help, or to give him something constructive to do that he could enjoy, but also as a way for her to help pay him back in place of the rest of the magical world. Out of respect for his wishes, the populace tried to give him his space - though some couldn't help but offer him their thanks and he was still an icon that they all watched closely. However, their attention on him made Harry uncomfortable, and so he hid from it for the most part. Though the VRMMO was meant to be for the muggle population to experience the magical world, Hermione could now use it to show Harry all the places he couldn't go to without people staring at him, or it becoming a spectacle. They even had magical areas from outside Britain - places Harry couldn't go without it potentially becoming a diplomatic visit, just because of who he was.

For now though, she had him exploring a simple woodland - somewhere in the South Downs National Park - and there were supposed to be Aethonan around there; a breed of winged horse. Unlike Abraxan however, the aethonan were of a regular sized horse - Abraxan were closer to the size of elephants. They were still working out the mechanics of interacting with magical creatures in the game - particularly wild ones, but wanted it to be possible to mount and fly on creatures like the aethonan. Harry was going into the game with all his skills maxed out - he was a tester after all, so it wouldn't do if he was too low level to interact with everything, but once the game was released he was determined to go in at level one just like everyone else.

For now though, they were checking the environments - making sure that everything looked right. The first time Harry had opened his eyes in the game, he'd found that his hands were much bigger than they ought to be and that several objects seemed to overlap eachother where they had been overlaid. There hadn't been major problems though - the designers were brilliant and it certainly helped that a real life recording could be taken and used for the game.

Even though this was only the third session inside Magic Online, it still awed Harry to think that he was inside a computer right now - his body was laying beside Hermione in the real world, while he was out here in some forest, looking up at the sky. Speaking of which.

"Hey Hermione, you might want to have them just tweak the sky a little bit - I know this game is meant to be colourful but I'm pretty sure I've never seen the sky to be that shade of blue." It was pretty, but a little bit too turquoise. This may be the Magical World Online or whatever they were calling it, but it was still planet Earth.

The name was actually still being decided on. Everyone involved seemed to have their own opinion on the name, or their own version of it. Officially it didn't have a name at all - the project had a name, but not the game itself. Thus the game was identified as 'Magic Online', 'Magical World Online', 'The Magical World', and other variations along the same vein.

Regardless of the name, the project was well underway. The first dive had been nerve-wracking for all involved, especially as it came quite soon after they'd found a way of using muggle electronics. Using magic around electronics had always been a problem before, but because they would have to use the muggle dive systems for their game (otherwise it wouldn't be popular, if people had to buy all the tech when they already had their own dive gear). That meant being able to use the systems within a magical location though - or at least with magic around, while they developed the game. In the end they had found a decent stop-gap measure of simply insulating the electronics against magic. It involved a bit of alchemy - and some rather foul-smelling goo that solidified into a hard, shiny shell and resisted magic. It had a habit of cracking if spells were cast directly on it, but another layer could be applied over any cracks to reseal it.

The real test had been making the dive system viable for the magicals. Some of the younger students had used the dive system before they learned they were magical, and in times of stress had caused accidental magic in the real world - usually shorting out their hardware in the process. They were still working on stopping that from happening - short of opening up the dive hardware and putting the goo over every bit of it, and even then it would only work for a little while. At this stage though, just testing the benign stuff, it wasn't necessary. There weren't any enemies in the game yet - most of it was still in development after all.

"Alright Harry, we're going to relocate you to Stonehenge at night - we want to be able to use it for some of the traditional celebrations." Hermione warned him. Both of them were learning a great deal about things they never thought they would - including some of the traditional magical celebrations. Particularly as muggle raised, without family in the magical world, they had no way of gaining many of these insights.

While they had of course learned about the boost that certain rituals gained on Samhain courtesy of Voldemort, that was about it really. It turned out that there was a lot more to it than that however, more even than Hermione had learned at Hogwarts, about how magic was effected and the things that magicals had traditionally done throughout the year. Much of it was comparative to paganism - with Christmas being Yule, Halloween as Samhain and so on - and celebrating the equinoxes, harvest days and so on.

Though she was only now seeing some of the traditions that had been popular in the magical world, Hermione was beginning to understand why so many purebloods had disliked the muggleborns so much. For all that she had buried herself in the magical world, into books and learning, she had never known these simple celebrations and ways of life. It had been disrespectful of her to come in criticizing, even if she had done so because she hadn't been able to get that information. It was passed down through families mostly, and she was only learning it because there were those among her now willing to teach her. Ron certainly hadn't been any help in that regard - she'd learned the most from Molly in truth, during her visits to see her. Molly had been raised a Prewitt, and just because she was pro-muggle didn't mean that she had cast away her history.

Still, it had raised an interesting issue - how little the muggleborns knew or were being taught about the magical world. Not only that, but how the education at Hogwarts had been lacking in certain areas - and Hermione was determined to help fill those gaps within the game, so that any magical who wanted could learn a few things about their world that they may have missed.

She was distracted from her thoughts when Harry spoke up again, his voice coming clearly through the speakers.

"Have you ever been to Stonehenge Hermione?" He asked conversationally, and she could see his virtual self poking around the tall stones that made up the historic landmark.

"I have visited once or twice, with my parents." Muggles weren't allowed so close though, not unless they were given permission. She'd never been up close like Harry was now, even if it was virtual.

"I've never seen it before." He sounded a bit melancholy, but then chuckled. "You know, I don't think I'm the best person for this job Hermione. How am I supposed to tell if something looks right if I've never seen it in real life before?"

"Don't worry Harry, you're mostly there just to make sure that the graphics are working correctly. Though, if you want something that you've seen before, how about this..." The excitement in her voice was enough to make Harry turn, she could see his character on the screen looking towards her. She typed in a few keys, relocating Harry to what looked like someone's house.

Before he could say anything however, he got to experience the first completed cut scene of the game. In front of his eyes, a special letter slipped through the letterbox, coasting through the air towards him. It looped in the air and landed in his hands, and Harry couldn't help but laugh as he saw the Hogwarts seal proudly displayed on the front.

Now everyone could experience the joy of the being invited to the magical world.

Notes: So this is still pretty slow in terms of characters and I'm sorry about that. Just to clarify, this isn't going to have Ron-bashing, its just he's off doing his own thing for the most part, and hasn't come up yet, so don't worry about that. Also I forgot to mention, but I don't have a beta so if you spot any mistakes or think I should rephrase anything, let me know - thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The development of the game was coming along well. It took far less time than she expected honestly, but there were unexpected hiccups when it came to converting the magical world into the virtual game. What was possibly the easiest part was actually data-mapping the real magical sites; there was extensive study into such things after all, particularly from the law-enforcement point of view. Rather than merely photograph a scene, investigations used a tool that captured the 3-dimensional space, so a crime scene could be completely mapped and revisited even if the actual scene was disturbed. Adapting that to a much larger scale hadn't been hard - the toughest part was getting into all the places that they wanted a map of. Even harder than that though, was converting that data into a format that the computers could use. They'd had whole magical districts mapped out - all of Hogwarts even, before they'd been able to actually use that data.

Bottlenecks like that were becoming the norm though, and they got through them eventually. There was still plenty of discussion about what to do in the game though - not everyone would want to go to Hogwarts and attend lessons like regular students - the game still had to have fun things to do for the players.

That had sparked debate about adding content for gameplay - like dungeons and bosses, the enemies, things like that. They had all agreed though, that regardless of what happened in the game, it had to be an accurate representation of magic. The whole point of this was to show the muggles how magic and the magical world worked, their history and so on, and it wouldn't do to change things just to make things interesting. For example, even though it would make gaming much more difficult, there would be no way of reviving someone who was killed - though they had added the 'knocked out' status effect, to differentiate for things like stunning spells. Any time a character actually died though, it would be returned to the Hogwarts Infirmary or Saint Mungos.

There had been some uncertainty about the game though - about how much they were going to talk about the recent war. They had the old Diagon Alley mapped out after all, and it was an important part of history, but many felt that it would be cruel to make it part of the game - not just because of the reminder for the victims, but also because new players would come in and it would just be entertainment to them. They were still undecided about it - many felt heatedly about the issue, but if her bookish nature taught her anything, Hermione knew that history was always forgotten from the memories of the people. Not only that but ironically many of the people who were the most outspoken against having elements of the war in the game were the ones who had no intention of playing it. She could understand their offense against it, but at the same time she personally felt that the game was designed for muggles more than anyone else - to show them their world without them knowing that it was real. The point of the game was so that muggles parents could understand the magical world, and hopefully to limit the negative reaction of the discovery.

While the Magic Online game was a true delight, especially challenging with some of the adaptations required to make the magical world /a game/, sometimes Hermione did regret walking down this path. She loved It, there was no doubt about that, but she missed her friends and felt like she was missing out in general. Burying herself in her studies wasn't anything new of course, but at least before she'd been with her friends for the most part, not to mention the last year spent in a tent with Harry and Ron. She'd gotten used to spending that time with them - near enough all day every day, and while it had been enough to have her tearing her hair out some of the time, she had still gotten used to it. Now she saw Harry every now and then - more now she'd managed to rope him into helping, to be fair, but Ron was rarely around.

It was tough for their red-headed friend; Ron's family had been understandably clinging after everything that had happened. With Ron having been gone for so long, then the final battle happening... The Weasley family had held onto eachother so tightly. She didn't think she'd seen any Weasley seperated from the brood for at least the first few months, and even then. Even the older Weasley boys had stayed, mostly in support of their mother and brothers. The state of the wizarding world hadn't helped - given what happened to Gringotts, Bill's job was uncertain and he hadn't wanted to risk asking about it until they were sure that the goblins weren't going to rebel after what happened. The Burrow was a mess of course, so there had been plenty to do at least. Charlie had eventually returned to the dragon reserves - the first Weasley son to return to his work, and Bill eventually left the burrow too. Ron remained though, unable to leave his mother and brother, and frankly having no reason to either. He hadn't wanted to return to Hogwarts for his final year - most didn't - and it was a known secret that Hogwarts education during Harry Potter's years in particular had been substandard so getting that final year in was never going to be enough anyway. Instead McGonagall had managed to set up a few seminars for some of the more important basics, for those who hadn't wanted to retake their final year.

What it boiled down to in the end though, was that the Golden Trio had dissolved, at least for a time. She'd stuck close to Harry as best she could with how busy she was - she knew what he was like after all, and he'd been especially lost after everything was over. It wasn't so bad though - she finally felt like she was doing something for the betterment of others - more than fighting Voldemort and his death eaters, which had been to push back the darkness and do what was right.

Things were different now - everyone was different. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing but it took some time to accept. So many things had changed, and nobody had gotten through the last few years without being altered in some way. What Hermione wanted was to recapture the delight of the magical world - the feelings she had for it when she first stepped into it, not the way it was now. Hopefully, if enough magicals played the game too, then perhaps she could help them reclaim what joy the darkness had taken away too. It wasn't their focus, because frankly not many would want to play the game - it was too 'muggle', and also too hard, for some people, to look back at the magical world in a way they didn't see it any more. Hopefully it'd help though, for some at least. It was certainly helping Hermione and the rest of the team - already their office was full of smiles and determination - some of the shadows in people's eyes were fading.

That was why Harry had decided to help her, in the end. He'd seen how much happier she looked, how much more at peace. It wasn't all gone of course, but that soul-deep hurt seemed to be healing, as each day brought more pleasure instead of pain and depression.

Plus the Magical World game was pretty awesome - at least by his reckoning. Players were capable of seeing interesting places, but also it was very informative - that was the point. It had the benefit of Hermione's extensive knowledge, but pared down into interesting tidbits. She had of course sunk herself into some of the in-game Hogwarts' classes, and while it had been a challenge for her to give the cliffnotes versions of information that could take up whole books, well - she'd lived with Harry and Ron for years, she was very used to having to cut right down to the heart of things, no matter how much it irked her.

Perhaps she'd be able to stuff Harry into enough In-game classroom moments that he'd manage to actually pick up some useful education - she still couldn't believe he'd gone through three years of Divination, nor that he'd been through six of history of magic and still scarcely knew who Gellert Grindelwald was!

Of course there could be no substitute for actually attending magic school and the game wasn't designed to be so academic (to Hermione's chagrin) but hopefully some information would get through. The game was intended to convey all kinds of information - first and foremost about the magical world and its people, creatures and culture. Plus recent history, and history from further back if Hermione could swing it - after all, the game had to be interesting and so there had to be quests to do and dungeons to explore.

It definitely amused her though, that all of a sudden her team were delving into the history of the magical world - since by this point generations had been bored to tears by Binn's lectures. Trying to turn history into something that could be put into a game had suddenly made the past interesting, and she had two of her staff out questioning paintings and hitting the history books for that reason.

The game was shaping up nicely, and as the kinks were worked out it wouldn't be long until it was entering the beta and then going live for real. By requesting the aid of the magical population, it was spreading awareness and interest for the game too and the anticipation was felt by far more than just Hermione and her team. Heck, even the traditional purebloods had been approached (those not loyal to Voldemort of course) for their perspective of the magical world, if they cared to share. If nothing else it made it easy to emulate their poise and condescension when speaking to lowly muggleborns and the like.

Sometimes she felt like bringing this game out was an uphill struggle though, with so many different ideas and conflicting opinions coming from all directions. Half the people Hermione spoke to about it told her to absolutely don't talk about one topic or another, while someone else was telling her to get it all out there. It didn't help that, particularly with the last war, the population all had different experiences and opinions, but they were all raw and touchy about it. With the real magical world still in recovery there were still a lot of real-world changes going on, so there was no point trying to put them into the game until they were sorted out. So many things had changed, and especially for a such a long-lived society, it was very uncomfortable for many of the magical people.

Still, there was always hope and with Hermione driving the project it was sure to make it to the conclusion, no matter how long it took or how hard she had to work.

Notes: Sorry for another chapter of waffle guys - I'm hoping I'll be able to actually get on with the game soon - I never originally intended to start from such a 'creation' perspective, but now if I go straight into gameplay it'll be a bit of a jump. We'll see how the next chapter comes out though.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was strange, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour in the old Diagon Alley, knowing it was gone now. The place was bright and everything she remembered it being - aside from complete devoid of life - and yet it felt so unnerving to be here. It recaptured the place as she knew it - full of potential joy, places to explore. The sky was blue and the mismatched cobbles made the shopping district even more vibrant, but it just made it all the more unsettling for its silence. The Diagon Alley of now was a dark, abandoned place, and this facsimile of what it was just didn't sit well with her. It was like she couldn't shake the feeling that death eaters could come around the corner at any time, throwing around blasting curses and raining destructing down on the place.

Hermione didn't spend all that much time in the game - she was far too busy, but she did like to keep tabs on how it was going. It was nice sometimes to see the places they'd recreated in the game though, just as they had been - even if it did feel wrong in a way. She never had been the sort to accept an illusion though - not such an obvious fallacy as this place was.

Still, they'd wanted to recreate it. Poking at old wounds perhaps, but what happened in this place was historic in its own way. She doubted any magic-born of her generation and older would ever want to run this dungeon though - knowing the truth of it would make it horrifying to even contemplate.

That was what Diagon Alley was now - a dungeon to be run by small groups of players. 'Attack on Diagon Alley' wasn't going to be ready or released for some time though - and very few people actually knew about it - for good reason. Retelling history when it still hurt was too difficult and it would just cause waves to release the dungeon now. No, this game would make enough waves without including that in the original version - they already had the first dungeon prepared 'The Old Potion's Wing' in Hogwarts castle. There would likely be more, but it was still early days yet.

In fact the Old Diagon Alley hadn't been intended for the game at all, but rather one of her team had wanted to see the place as it was, hoping to reclaim that feeling of joy for the place. It was cathartic to be in the Old Alley, but also deeply unsettling. The new shopping centre within the old Ministry building was bustling and full of life - though it seemed still somewhat out of place with the dark marble decor of the interior, but it still managed to feel more authentic than this recreation.

With a sigh, Hermione disengaged the link that transported her there and instead found herself sitting in her office. Removing the headgear she shook herself off and stepped out of the small room and into the larger one that housed her team. Technically she had several teams - the Department of Magical Integration had different branches as they had taken over relations between all other races. In truth she had the most to do with the Muggle Integration, though she had oversight over the rest, bar the goblins. Unfortunately the situation with the goblins was still tenuous, particularly as she had been party to a break in and theft. While the situation had been explained and goblins were being given a voice in politics amongst other things, goblin law was harsh and she was lucky to be getting away with just being kept out of things - they could legally ask for her head on a platter if they wished, though her efforts to gain them better standing in the magical world helped greatly in that regard.

Unfortunately Harry and Ron weren't quite so lucky - both had a standing ban from the bank, though proxies could access their funds if necessary. For Harry it wasn't so bad as he was rich enough to be able to access financial options that Ron wasn't, such as a pouch that linked to his bank. It had a cap on the max spending per day, but was better than having someone run to the bank for him whenever he needed cash.

Things with Ron were still a bit rocky unfortunately - Hermione had invited him to see her work just that morning and he'd declined once again. She knew he was busy and in all honesty he wasn't that interested in her work - he never was - but it had been months now since they'd seen him for more than five minutes and she wasn't sure how much patience she had left.

Thankfully she had plenty of work to do in the meantime. Sometimes working in her office she felt like a conductor - directing her team and the other sections under her purview as if conducting an orchestra to create a symphony.

In a rather outrageous move (if you asked the magical population anyway) Harry was now officially under her employ. While a whole lot of people were up in arms over the decision, thankfully the minister had supported her decision and stood firm against the political and social opposition. Just because they'd managed to get people to back off from the boy-hero, now a man despite the 'boy who lived' moniker refusing to fade, didn't mean that the public didn't have ideas as to what he should be doing for them next. Safely ensconced in her department though, Harry was relatively safe from the public eye. The role was still wide enough to keep him entertained too - he lacked much in the way of applicable skills in the game development and experience in magical integration with other technologies and people, but he was very good at improvisation and, barring the goblins, was very good at interacting with other species. So far he'd helped out with relations with the centaurs and house elves, as well as the merfolk.

Sometimes it helped because of who he was, not that they used that intentionally. It was in having Harry Potter refer to 'muggles' as 'non-magical', or the 'wizarding world' now being the 'magical world' - no longer excluding other races or genders. Opening up the minds of the population, after such things had seemed set in stone for them, was no easy feat - but they were getting their, slowly but surely.

Right now Harry was out with another delegation, hoping to make contact with a small faction of werewolves that hadn't allied with Voldemort. Hermione hadn't told her friend about the Old Diagon Alley, and she likely wouldn't until it was released into the game, if and when that happened. She definitely wouldn't talk to the Weasleys about that one though - for the most part they had been very much against any reminder of the recent war. Only the older Weasley boys had been at all open to it, and only because they understood the value of that knowledge - to prevent it happening again. Still, the last time she'd spoken to Ron about the game and what to put into it he had shouted at her for even mentioning the idea of putting the recent war in there. As if Magic Online wasn't intended to educate the non-magicals and others, it was ludicrous.

It was a delicate balance though - keeping to the intention of the game, but still ensuring that it was a /game/. Sometimes she felt so bogged down trying to make it educational, but thankfully her team were able to rectify her errors - after all, she had scarcely played a video game since she was a little girl, so it was no wonder she'd somewhat lost touch with them. Besides, unfortunately nobody ever accused her of being 'fun'.

Still, she knew her strengths and weaknesses and was able to place checks against herself, as well as delegate (yes!) such work to more appropriate people.

Including Harry, though she was trying to limit his exposure to the game so that when it was released he'd be able to enjoy playing, without feeling like it was his job or knowing all the development secrets. If anything she was teasing him a bit - showing him tidbits here and there that kept him interested. She wanted this to be a gift for him too, something he could escape to and enjoy.

Although unfortunately the game wouldn't allow him to truly escape - the character customisation was pretty limited at this point, so they were all restricted to avatars identical to themselves. It was a work in progress, but they weren't sure how customisable it was going to be in the end - and players were locked to a single character, though some modification later was possible. It was a virtual world of magic after all.

Not that Hermione had any intention on looking like anyone but herself - it made it easier anyway, as she was a very familiar personality and wearing a different face wouldn't change that. Perhaps she'd do something with her hair though - it'd be so much less hassle to make it look pretty as a default appearance rather than have to work at it, like in the real world.

Lost in thoughts of potentials for the game, Hermione absently scribbled down a few more ideas to discuss in the next meeting. Honestly, she doubted anyone could have expected how large of an ordeal it would be to try and convert the magical world into a virtual game - the coding alone was mountainous!

Notes: I am considering renaming this story, but I'm still not sure what to change it to yet. _ Any ideas?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Uh Hermione? I think you might have gotten the scale wrong on this one..." In front of him was a gigantic pyramid, reaching up into the heavens and far larger than any pyramid he'd ever seen in the pictures. The pair of them were once more exploring one of the zones in Magical World Online in preparation for its release, something which was looming closer and closer now.

"Actually that's the Egyptian ministry building - it really is inside a huge pyramid." Hermione told him. "Apparently their school is inside a sphinx too - I'd love to see it in person." She sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "Unfortunately we haven't much developed for the magical districts in other countries - the focus was meant to be in Britain after all, but it'd be nice to branch out if we can. We've just about finished what we can for the British Isles now anyway - though there's always more we can add into it, people will get bored going to the same places all the time." Hermione paused, looking over at Harry - usually he'd have spoken up by now. It appeared that he was still gaping at the size of the pyramid however, and probably trying to figure out how you were supposed to get inside.

"The view from the top must be amazing." Harry-the-adrenaline-junkie breathed, reminding her that he did used to be a crazy quidditch player back in Hogwarts, had flown on a dragon and just generally seemed to love heights and pulling crazy stunts.

"Honestly Harry - only you would want to climb to the top of the Egyptian Ministry for Magic." She sighed. He was absolutely hopeless.

It was something to think about though - not climbing the Egpytian Ministry for Magic of course, but magical people doing crazy things. While the game accurately captured the supposed 'logic' of the magical world (logic wasn't really the right word for it, but nothing else was either) Hermione still worried it wasn't enough. It was something she'd left mostly to her team - she was too 'muggle' for most of it, though she understood magical theory well enough to contribute and was friends with Harry (she was still shocked at how much that helped) but the fact was that the magical world tended to be illogical, at least slightly insane, and always completely unpredictable. For all her linear thinking, Harry and the war had given her a perspective that few had, and that too contributed to the game.

And soon everybody else would be able to see the fruit of their labour. The game was already in beta-testing, and while the initial release was going to be fairly small, it was finally making it out. Additional content could be patched in as development progressed but for now the game mechanics were all complete. Barring any problems, it would be ready to roll out soon.

It was a relief to finally near the release date - tensions between the magical and non-magical world were at an all-time high and the Hogwarts teachers in particular had a hell of a time dealing with muggleborn parents. Eventually it was hoped that the ministry would take charge of introducing non magical people to the magical world (specifically her department) but at present it still relied heavily on the teachers. Several of her staff were helping out - but for the most part they were still learning how the teachers handled the introduction - they weren't ready to take it on themselves yet.

Soon enough it would become a large part of what her department did though - especially if she finally managed to get approved her proposition to introduce non-magical people to magic at a much earlier age, to avoid all the problems that occurred when children did inexplicable things in front of parents ill-equipped to cope. Her people would be dealing with muggle/magical interactions for the most part though, something Hermione was looking forward to taking over - if only to know that it was being done right. Having been on the other end of this, she was well aware of how lacking the current procedure was.

It was Hermione's hope that if all went well, a copy of the game and if necessary, hardware too would be distributed to non-magical parents. Doing so would allow the parents to interact with the magical world without being physically exposed to it if they didn't want to be. It would provide a quick and easy method for those parents to communicate with the magical world - the admin were all magical after all, so that if they had any problems they weren't limited in what they could do about it. Right now, unless a parent either drove to the middle of London (unreasonable for any who didn't live nearby) or owned an owl, they had no way of contacting anyone magical if they had a need to. It was a huge oversight - especially when coupled with the fact that these parents had sent their children away to a school they couldn't see or interact with - it was no wonder muggleborn parents struggled so much with letting their children go.

The main problem against Hermione's proposal was cost. If they could offset the costs with the sale of the official game in its release, hopefully it wouldn't be too expensive. Plus only one copy of the game and hardware would be released to a non-magical family, so if parents wanted to play together, or the child wanted a copy of their own, then that would have to be bought with their own finances. Particularly during the summers it was likely that children would want that contact with the magical world, and their friends - especially if the game could be given to non-magical families prior to the child being 11. All in all it meant that it was likely a second copy would be bought in many of those households, which would make up for the profit loss of giving the first set out for free.

In terms of cost to the department, it was already necessary for them to buy the hardware themselves anyway, as the anti-magic coating had to be applied in order to limit the damage that magic inflicted. Once the hardware was magic-resistant then they could sell it on, but doing so meant they were already buying the headgear in bulk. Research into alternative magic/electricity compatibility was still ongoing - tying into energy conversion and several other branches of magical development, but for now they were using the magic-resistant goop. It was hoped that in the future, the magical version would be able to power itself using the user's magic, or a magical battery - but that was still in development and at present anything using this module was liable to explode or just not work.

Their current version would be sold to the magical world along with the game, while the game alone would be released to the non-magical world as the muggle market already had headsets available. Depending on the success of the sales, there was the possibility of manufacturing their own hardware rather than refurbishing existing headsets - it would be cheaper in the long run and if they sold in the muggle market too, with a reputation for less circulatory issues (from unaware magical children shorting them out), it was another potential investment. That was on hold for now though, in the hopes that they would be able to resolve the power conversion issues and design their own headset instead of using the goop. It would make it more resilient and longer lasting it was hoped. Not to mention they would be able to design it themselves, which would be nice.

It was a lot to juggle all at once though - and the game was just one fraction of her department. Some days Hermione felt like a businesswoman, politician, team manager and game developer all rolled into one. Other days she just seemed to take on more titles and roles.

Speaking of titles, she wondered about what titles to put in the game. Her team had been discussing it just the other day, trying to decide how to recognise players and for what, as well as whether to have any kind of titles for known magical players - like Harry and herself for example. She doubted Harry would appreciate it at all, but many felt that some people deserved the perk. Some had suggested having the order of Merlin in the game too - she was still on the fence about that. Getting one in real life had been uncomfortable enough and it would just make them more recognisable in the game.

"What do you think Harry? If you could be given a title in-game, what would you want to be known as?" She asked him - no point in fretting over it after all, when she could just ask.

Looking away from the huge pyramid they were still stood in front of (after Hermione'd had to haul him back from trying to climb up the outside of it, nevermind that the stone blocks were two meters high and he couldn't reach to climb up the first one) Harry frowned in thought. Any mention of fame always made him a bit uncomfortable - he was sort of getting used to it, if ignoring it counted, but he was never really comfortable with It.

"I don't think I'd like to be known as anything. Just Harry I guess." He shrugged, looking over at her. "Why? I thought you guys had started making a list of feats and things that could get titles."

"Yes, but the team wanted to give some people unique titles. I know you've said you don't want real-life actions to affect players in the game, but I doubt we'll be able to avoid it entirely. They've already locked 'the boss' to my account and I can't seem to get rid of It. I haven't even created a proper player character yet." She grumbled. "I just thought I'd ask you, so if they do something, at least you'll get what you want instead of whatever they pick."

Grinning at the title his friend couldn't seem to shake, Harry shifted thoughtfully. "A title I'd actually want, huh?" All of the ones he held currently were off the table of course - or so he thought. The more he mulled the idea over though, the more he kind of liked it.

"Maybe 'Undesirable Number One'?" He suggested with a sardonic smile. "Though I suppose it is a bit distinctive still, not to mention a bit too on the nose." He saw Hermione grimace a bit, though she shook her head in bemusement. Trust Harry to take one of the darkest points of their lives and make it something humorous.

"I heard they were going to tag Draco with 'the ponce' if he ever made an account." Hermione divulged, smiling as Harry barked out a laugh. Neither could really imagine the ferret deigning to play the game, but it was funny to consider all the same. "A few others are getting titles too, if they decide to play. Neville's is either going to be 'the herbologist' or 'snakesterminator'." The last drew another laugh from Harry, who could only imagine his friend's expression if he found out about it.

"For my title though? I really don't know Hermione." Harry's expression become more serious. "I've never wanted any of the titles I have, you know that." Except perhaps 'Gryffindor's star seeker', that one he could live with he supposed.

"Yes, but that's why I'm asking you what you want now." Nobody had before after all, and hopefully having the choice would make it a title Harry actually appreciated.

Harry mulled the idea over in his mind, trying to figure out some kind of title he wouldn't automatically balk at. "Maybe something to do with flying...?" He couldn't really think of anything specific.

"That's fine, I'm sure we can work something out. Let me know if you think of anything specific though, but I'll make sure the team give you a title along that vein." And not anything related to being the 'savior of the wizarding world' or a hero. Some of the ideas she'd heard tossed around the office would potentially work, but if Harry truly had a problem then she could always change it - she had admin rights after all.

The titles were only optional anyway - they were rare, but didn't have to be displayed if the player didn't want to. Using them gave some bonuses and things though, and they were tied to the account so those bonuses where in place regardless of whether the title was displayed, but until it was displayed it would only effect mobs (if an effect was to be had on them) - it wouldn't effect the players or NPCs.

"You know, its really great to be here Mione." Harry spoke up from beside her. The sun was beginning to set behind the pyramid and it made for a beautiful view. "You're doing an amazing thing - and even in the middle of changing the magical world, you're taking the time to show me a world I couldn't see otherwise." He ducked his head shyly, scuffing at the sand beneath his boots. "I mean sure, I could go to these places - but it'd be a media circus, people looking at me and making a scene, but this..."

Harry rocked back on his heels and Hermione could see his face from where he'd been hiding it. She reached out and touched his arm, a fond smile on her face. "You don't need to thank me silly. I'm your best friend." She already knew how he felt, that was why she was doing this for him. "Though, if you do feel inclined to repay me, I'm sure I could think of a few things..." She told him slyly. Hermione had plenty of ideas that Harry could help out with within the department. "I was thinking that you could pair up with one of the teachers and start getting some experience introducing new Magicals to our world."

Harry's reaction was somewhat surprised - he'd mostly worked behind the scenes as it was the only thing he could do without it becoming an attraction because of who he was. "Really? But isn't that a bit public?"

Her bushy hair bounced as she nodded, folding her arms over her chest. "Yes, but it'll be public with non magical parents and their magical children - people who haven't had contact with the magical world yet and so don't know who you are." It might cause a stir once they did, but as a first contact it would be fine. "You've come from a non magical background Harry, and you're more up-to-date with it than many. You don't have to be their point of contact after that if you don't want, but for the first meeting you'll be fine. I think you'd be great for the role - and I can't have you playing the game all the time." She teased him.

It was true though - playing the game for too long would have the player booted out eventually. It wasn't safe for people to stay hooked up for too long - their bodies were lying prone in the real world after all and they would need tending to. The game was meant to be played during the night for the most part, so it wasn't typically a problem. For those who worked within the game - like the beta testers - could do so at night but also for periods during the day, but they weren't allowed to work consecutively - they had to take breaks for their health.

"It'll be great once the game is up and running." Harry mused thoughtfully. "Have you given any thought to introducing other magical races to it? That'd be pretty cool. The magical world is made up of more than just witches and wizards." The casual comment seemed to poleaxe Hermione, who stared at him blankly until he eyed her warily.

"That's brilliant Harry!" She exclaimed, burying him under her mane of bushy hair as she gave him a hug. Even in the virtual world it still seemed to suffocate him just as it did in reality. "I mean, potentially impossible given the bedrock of magical history between the races but still!" So far her department had been trying to open up proper lines of communication and understanding between magical races but there was a lot of damage to make up for first - wizardkind had been too far up its own arse with regards to other races until recently (those were the words of the head of the ex-department of goblin affairs). If the game could be available to other races too then that would be amazing. Getting those races to agree to allow their history to be integrated into the game might be tough, but she was already working to gain some non-human people to work in her department. Not too many were interested at the moment, but the idea of presenting this to some of the races, especially the goblins, would be amazing. Of course it could blow up in their faces but anything dealing with the other races always could - you never know what might offend them.

Hermione imagined for a moment years from now, being able to play the game she helped create, but given the option to start as another race. Imagine logging on and playing a goblin, or a veela, or anything else! If they could at least get the other races participation, hopefully one day they would allow that - to be given such insight into the inner workings of their species, that was her hope. Magical World Online was about breeding understanding between different peoples after all, what more could they hope for than that?

"Probably impossible though." Harry replied ruefully, shaking his head. "Though that's never stopped us before."

"No." She agreed with a nod. "No it hasn't."

Notes: Another chapter at its end! But I'm still undecided on the name of the game - so, put it to the vote - what shall we call the game? Magic Online? Magical World Online? Magical World? Or if you have another suggestion, feel free to submit that too.

In the next chapter, the Magical World VRMMO will be unveiled - and Harry will likely be among the first to dive into it (with an eager Hermione eager to do the same).


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was the first day that Magical World Online was available, and copies were flying off the shelves (not literally, thank goodness, that'd be awkward). The game itself wouldn't go live for another twelve hours but in the meantime players were able to make their accounts and create their characters. The reason the game wasn't available right now was simply because it was a UK release and it was currently 9am - and it was meant to be played overnight.

The dev team and most of the Department of Magical Integration already had a copy of the game and the first generation magic resistant headset, along with some others who contributed to the game. A few copies had already made it out to non-magical parents too, so there was guaranteed to be people logging on as soon as they could even without including the actual sales.

Unfortunately, Hermione wouldn't be among them - she was working behind the scenes in 'the control room' as they all called the room where all the staff for Magical World Online were based. She'd be working in the capacity of admin today, so while she was patched into the game, she would be there to help new players with any issues rather than actually playing through the game herself.

Harry on the other hand, would be going in with the first wave and she couldn't be more jealous - though she took her post with good grace. Technically he'd be going in as part of his job too - not only as a part of the team but also as a wizard. The 'logic' of magic sometimes wasn't intuitive for non-magical people so he'd be hanging around areas where people seemed to get stuck, playing through the game as an example to that first wave and showing them how to do it. He hadn't beta-tested so he didn't know what was coming up, but was better adapted to handle it than a new player.

Right now he was laying in the carefully designed bed in Hermione's office, hooked into the game. He was creating his in-game avatar, rather than using his real self as he had been before. She couldn't deny being curious about what he was going to look like but had promised not to peek - Harry wanted anonymity at least for a time, and she'd respect that. In the meantime though, she eyed him enviously for being in the game already.

As far as she knew, most of her old school friends weren't going to be among the new players. She was curious about who would be though, but then with everyone being able to pick their own avatar she wouldn't necessarily recognise them.

Abruptly she was pulled from her thoughts as Harry disengaged his headset and sat up, running a hand through his hair. It was sticking up amusingly from wearing the headgear for the last half an hour.

"Hermione." He called for her, turning her way. "Why can't I change my height?" He sounded disgruntled and she snickered at his expression.

As Hermione shifted into lecture mode Harry looked somewhat sorry to have asked, but she thankfully kept the explanation simple. "Well, its all to do with how our brains work - if you were a different height in the game then you'd trip up all the time because you weren't used to it, and if you adapted to it over time, when you came out you'd have the same problem then in the real world." Body shape and weight could be changed, but height couldn't. Clearly this was news to Harry though, and he looked none-too-happy, much to her obvious amusement.

"So are you going to at least give me a hint about your in-game self?" Hermione tried to keep the wheedling tone out of her voice but probably failed completely.

"'Fraid not, especially not after that stunt." He replied. She knew he'd been looking forward to finally being taller and hadn't told him beforehand that it wasn't possible. Hermione pouted at him with great effort but unfortunately it had little effect on her best friend.

Not surprised but still disappointed, Hermione sighed and stood from her desk. Some of the piles of paperwork teetered dangerously but didn't fall over even as she brushed past them and to the door. "You know the game gives you anonymity so you could just wear high heels or something if you wanted to be taller." She pointed out, doubting that he'd actually do it (even anonymous, Harry wasn't the sort to purposefully stand out if he could help it) but she mentioned it anyway. " Not that it matters for now. We still have hours to go until the game goes live." She was longing for it to start. "So lets get ready, shall we?"

To celebrate the game being released, there was an event taking place that all the developers and associated staff would attend with the public. It was also for promotion purposes of course, and Harry had agreed to tag along even if he honestly wasn't looking forward to the crowds or the attention, even though as just a tester he wouldn't be in the limelight himself.

Hermione had also pointed out that it was important for him to still be seen around - even though he disliked the attention. People just liked to be reassured that he was still there, even if it was none of their business. At times it was amusing though, in a slightly morbid way, because it wasn't just the faceless masses that kept an eye on him, but to this day 'potterwatch' seemed to have continued. It was at times slightly self-mocking but old habits seemed to die hard, and last he'd heard Lee Jordan was still a regular host. Of course the 'potterwatch' radio channel had been more about boosting morale and giving encouragement and advice along with the news than actually watching out for Harry, but there was no doubt that all the listeners had been keeping their eyes open the moment any news came through about a sighting for him. Now the name seemed to be taken a bit more literally. They seemed to be using him as the measuring stick for the new world - if he approved of something or didn't, others wanted to know and follow his lead.

Honestly, Harry had turned on the radio after the war was over, more out of habit than anything else. He'd been surprised to hear that the radio show was still playing, but supposed it made sense - just because the war was over didn't mean that everything was undone. People were still missing and the ministry was a mess, Potterwatch was the only way for some people to know what was going on - especially for those who hadn't caught the news that the dark side had lost. The show didn't run regularly but then it never had. Harry still listened to it, and he'd caught a few of his friends listening too, though he'd never spoken to anyone about it. Idly Harry wondered if it would show up in the game, though bad memories were liable to keep it out. He couldn't remember how many hours he'd spent listening to the list of names of the dead or missing, praying that his friends weren't among them just like so many others. The broadcast had been a lifeline.

It was also how Hermione had gotten the idea to use a video game to try and reach out to people. Potterwatch had used the radio, and before it the Quibbler had come through for them sometimes- getting their message across through the media, that seemed to be the way to go. Merlin knew that shouting the truth in Hogwarts had done nothing, so other methods were required.

The auditorium was decorated beautifully, like it was some sort of magic convention. Stylised décor had been put up and Harry had been astounded at the turnout. Harry had only chatted to a few people but the general feeling was positive - everyone was looking forward to when they could play the game. Copies were available to buy on site as well, and the convention would end several hours before the game went live so that everyone could get back home and log in once it did.

There were enough familiar faces for Harry to enjoy himself, and it was interesting seeing a promotional event like this. The game wasn't released yet but video and screenshots had been, and they were answering questions and taking suggestions, as well as making sure everyone knew who to contact with any further suggestions or any problems. It was nice to see Hermione full of life, buzzing around the auditorium after the initial presentation, doing Q&A. She wasn't the only one, but she'd invested so much into this and it was finally coming to fruition, she was understandably enthused. Even her hair seemed almost electrified, frizzing out in response to her emotions.

Harry supposed it made sense though; there had been a lot of reconstruction going on, a lot of updates about how they were recovering as a society but this was the first 'fun' thing that had come out after the war. With the future of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes uncertain, there was a gap in the market for fun and everyone was eager for this new release.

All in all it went well, though Harry mostly kept to the back. He was there to endorse the game, but not steal the limelight - and he was quite happy to avoid it if at all possible.

By the time everything started winding down (if that was possible given that they were still anticipating the go-live), someone brought around food for the staff as they began packing up. The light meal was appreciated - Harry knew that Hermione had given little thought to dinner that day, given the distractions. He certainly had, but he also had the benefit of a house elf to stuff him full of food if he forgot.

The little elf was young and a bit shy and had been given to him from Hermione of all people, as part of one of her projects for the Department of Magical Integration. He was involved in a fair few of them, though the house elf was a somewhat more passive project. Zoe was bound to him as all elves had to be, but was treated as an employee. It was hoped that as an elf so young, she would be more able to accept the freedom and equality that was morally decent. He'd only had her for a few months but she was invaluable, looking after him in many small ways and making sure he didn't forget about himself, not to mention she provided him with a measure of protection whilst he was diving into the game. His body was undefended during that after all.

She would be looking after him tonight in fact - Harry would be amongst the first to go online (his login got priority as he was staff) and it was likely that he'd be staying on for some time to help people and lead the way.

It was with a lot of eagerness that the team all departed from the venue not long after that, each one of them prepared to head home or back to the control room for the go-live.

With that in mind Harry apparated back home, even though he still had some time before he could go into the game.

Upon arrival it was clear that it was a good idea he came back early though - Zoe had drawn him a bath and had prepared a small meal for him as well. Given that he could be logged into the game for quite a while, it was worth preparing just in case he did stay longer than expected. Harry laughed as the little elf nudged him to eat his dinner and give himself a wash before allowing him to lay down with the headgear on - every time he tried to skip a step she'd squeak at him. She might be shy, but that didn't stop her protesting his dereliction of her perceived duty.

Eventually though Harry was ready to dive, and the moment the servers went live he was sucked into the game.

Unlike before where he'd opened his eyes to the character creation screen, this time the game itself greeted him. The game title 'The Magical World' in jagged script hovered in front of him, followed shortly by the intro sequence, showing Kings Cross station, passing amongst the non-magical folk and through Platform 9 ¾ where the bustling platform was filled with witches and wizards, with the children climbing aboard the Hogwarts Express.

"Behind the world you know exists another, a world of magic and mystery. Now you can become a part of this magical community."

The scarlet train left the station, traveling up the countryside until it reached Hogsmeade station. The giant form of Hagrid met them at the station, waving at the arriving train as he called for the first years to lead them to the boats.

"Step into the game and experience true magic; cast spells, create potions, and adventure your way through the magical world and its rich history."

All aboard the small boats, just as the real first years would, Harry was elated to relive this experience. As the boats came around the corner, before him stood Hogwarts, looking beautiful and mysterious at night - just how it had when he'd first seen it all those years ago.

"Welcome to The Magical World Online."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Getting Sorted again was a strange experience. It certainly wasn't something Harry had ever expected to do twice. Particularly within a game, where upon being Sorted a huge banner appeared in front of his face announcing his House placement to the sound of much fanfare. Considering he was still wearing the hat (though it didn't cover his eyes quite so badly now, it still obscured his vision) it was a somewhat lost on him. Harry was once again in Gryffindor, though he wasn't sure if the game somehow knew his original house or if it was just luck that he'd been placed back in it. He doubted it was luck, but he had no idea how the game would tell what house he'd been in. Then again he had no idea how the MMO was able to do a lot of things - many of the processes and pretty much all of the coding behind the game was well beyond his understanding.

Not that it really mattered; all that did matter was that he was here now, feeling the rough cobblestone beneath his feet as he was welcomed into the house of the brave. It was a little strange - his height hadn't been adjusted (bloody height restriction) so it meant that he was amongst other first years, but much taller than them. Interspersed with the NPCs were other new players just starting out, though he didn't recognise anyone, not that he necessarily would, as people could customise their own appearances.

Having been Sorted, he sat down at his House table to watch the new players still waiting in line be assigned their Houses. The tables were leaden with food and he munched on a yorkshire pudding, in no hurry to move on to the next step.

Harry rather appreciated the chance to settle into the game. It gave him some time to get used to being here, and to being in the virtual world as well. He also had a different UI to get used to which was very unlike what he used when he was testing.

Opening his inventory and checking to see what items he had, Harry noted the basic Hogwarts uniform he was wearing. His wand was already there as well - that was customised in part of the character creation page, the first wand. Harry had decided to stick with his Holly and Phoenix feather of course, though the actual shape and design of the wand was slightly different to what he was used to. He hadn't wanted to be easily identifiable, and unfortunately Harry Potter's wand was one easily recognised now.

Aside from his equipped gear, he didn't have anything in his inventory - though he supposed it was the welcome feast and he'd likely get items soon enough. Perusal of his character information screen showed he had the basic stats he'd picked for his character, an image of himself wearing the Hogwarts school robes (which was strange to be wearing given how old he was now), along with his character name, underneath which was his rank, which currently listed 'Hogwarts First year student'.

The character information screen seemed to have a large amount of information about him. Harry's eyes narrowed at the bolded 'titles' section, which he hesitantly opened up to see what he'd been stuck with. Even with Hermione promising it wouldn't be something awful like 'Chosen one' he was still dubious about what he'd been stuck with.

"The Lightning?" He blurted it out loud, surprised - he'd expected it to be much worse. That wasn't so bad - a reference to his identity for sure, but not in a negative way he supposed, and not something everyone would instantly recognise. The title gave him boons in the form of a reaction speed increase, bonus to surprise attacks, plus a luck variable, which wasn't too bad. Luck could go both ways though, but it was also a stat he tended to favor.

Harry perused his menu for a little longer, checking his quest log and the quest tracking visuals. Alongside his character information he also found the menu for achievements (he had one for 'Sorted: get sorted into your Hogwarts House'). Eventually Harry decided to carry on - he absently read and accepted the quest that would move him on to the Gryffindor common room. As he did so a prefect appeared and started guided him out, explaining what it meant to be a part of the noble house along the way. Knowing the route to the common room by heart but nonetheless interested in what was being said about his house to all the new players, Harry remained with his escort all the way up to the portrait guard.

Seeing the Fat Lady in her portrait again brought a lump to Harry's throat. He'd not been back here in so long, seeing it intact - seeing all of Hogwarts so bright and full of life, it was momentarily overwhelming. It was only out of habit that he committed the password to memory when the prefect said it out loud. The portrait opened wide for them and he climbed inside, still a little choked up.

Everything looked so familiar, but rather than linger in the common room and be overwhelmed he instead completed his quest with the prefect, receiving a small amount of experience points, and retreated up to his dormitory.

In front of one of the beds was his character name, along with a plain brown trunk. Inside it turned out to have all of his books and tools for the first year classes, along with a satchel and a single set of casual clothes.

"I wonder how long I'll be back in Hogwarts for..." The whole game couldn't be about living seven years in the castle after all - but he wasn't sure how Hermione had managed to make things more flexible. If it stuck to reality then players would be going to classes for months and that'd get boring before long.

"I guess I'll just have to find out ..." There wasn't much to do for now though, just rest in preparation for the next day. He idly flicked through his school books - though they were first year, they were different from the ones he'd read in his first year, barring the _Standard Book of Spells Grade 1._

A casual look through his charms text was still enough for several notifications telling him he'd learned some basic charms - _Lumos, nox_ and _Wingardium Leviosa_ and gained a small amount of exp _._ The spells appeared in his spellbook, listing the casting requirements like wand motions and pronunciation. Useful stuff, especially given just how many spells existed. He could only imagine what Hermione's spell repertoire must be like.

It was getting late (in game) by that point so Harry settled down in bed and selected the 'sleep' option, choosing to 'awaken' at 7am the following morning. It'd give him time to get down to the Great Hall for his schedule without being so early as to have nothing to do - especially as he didn't have to worry about getting lost on the way.

He didn't have to worry _my ass_.

Maybe the castle had been rebuilt differently, but he doubted it - so there was no excuse for how he'd managed to find himself lost and in the _dungeons_ of all places. The only thing he could think of was that the castle had a few more tricks now - because he was pretty sure that the east corridor didn't used to lead impossibly to the dungeon - and of course backtracking didn't reverse the effect so he was forced to meander around the less familiar dungeon until he found his way back upstairs. At least it wasn't like the real world where he was at risk of the Slytherins here though.

His map filled out as he wandered though - not that it was a great map, given how Hogwarts did switch things around sometimes, but it would have to do. Harry had no idea how the Marauders had created their map, given how much the castle could change whenever it wanted. At one point in the dungeons an icon popped up telling him he'd uncovered 1% of Hogwarts, Harry could only imagine how tough it might be to uncover all of Hogwarts' secrets and complete that map. The Marauder in him resolve to try though - he knew this castle better even than the Weasley twins and couldn't resist the challenge of uncovering the whole map.

Eventually though he did make it to the Great Hall, where he picked up his class schedule and headed out to the entrance hall (he'd managed to come into the Great Hall from the teacher's entrance somehow - he still wasn't sure how). Harry didn't make it any further however, as he spotted Hermione standing by the front doors at the entrance hall.

She looked like a stereotypical witch - wide brimmed hat and rich coloured robes, looking prim and proper, using her own self as an avatar rather than customizing it. Amusingly she seemed to be channeling Professor McGonagall and had attracted all the new players eager to hear what she was saying. That was fine by Harry; Hermione was the one who could explain everything - he was just here to have fun.

Plenty of people seemed to have questions though, and he took the opportunity to examine some of the other players' avatars. Some had gone for standard appearances, but there were a few players who had picked vibrant hair colours or hairstyles that could only be created with magic. Some had interesting names as well, some clearly magical and some were clearly non-magical, with a fair few names of the sort that non-magical people thought _sounded_ magical but weren't really at all. They were all wearing the Hogwarts Standard Robe with their house colours, since nobody had been on long enough to get any other gear - everyone had 'Hogwarts First year student' under their names, except Hermione who had 'Guide'.

Hermione seemed to have quite the audience though so Harry moved closer to find out what she had to say.

"You must remember to wear the appropriate robes to your classes." She was lecturing. "It says so in your quest log but the game won't stop you if you attend in the incorrect clothing - it may cost you house points however, and have other negative effects." She informed. "For example those of you who attend Herbology class without the right protective clothing, or Care of Magical Creatures, you could take damage or be unable to properly learn about the subject matter without the correct equipment so you won't be able to gain the skills. Same with potions - make sure you have what you need and check the quest information."

Harry watched as her eyes roamed across the group, passing him by without recognition. A mischievous grin beginning to inch onto his face, the boy-savior lingered at the edge of the group, slowly moving closer, wondering how long it would take for her to figure out it was him, if she did at all.

After a good few minutes by which point Harry was stood almost beside her while she continued to lecture, Hermione's eyes narrowed and she shifted until he was stood next to her on the left. She side-eyed him, seeming to sense something amiss. His grin spreading, Harry gave her an innocent expression and waited as if he were any other eager first year listening to what she had to say.

Ultimately, the only reason she recognised it was Harry was because of his height. While the game allowed the player to modify their virtual self, it was limited to cosmetic changes presently. The top of Harry's head had always been at her eye level - she had two inches on him, plus the shoes she always wore. Not only that, but he always seemed to stand on her left side - she was used to seeing him from this angle, even if his hair was a different colour now.

Once she realised just who he was though, suddenly his name made so much more sense. "Oh Harry." She sighed, just barely holding back from rolling her eyes. "Undesirable Number One, really?"

'UNO' just grinned back at her unrepentantly, laughing as he ducked away from her lest she swat at him. "Well, the whole thing was too on the nose, don't you think? UNO shortened it quite nicely." And of course it was Harry Potter, who never could seem to conform even when it was what he thought he wanted. He stood out just for his name now; where everyone else had gamer names, real names or magical names like 'River Rosewood' or 'The Wizard99', Harry had 'UNO', all in caps, nothing else.

With a title like 'The Lightning' it really shouldn't be a surprise - it wasn't just a reference to his scar after all, but to how he always seemed to appear in some kind of flashy explosion- whether it be in a battle, or just via some mad antic, he was known for causing a scene. Not to mention the damage he left in his wake, she supposed. Even taking the title in a non-physical way, Harry did the same in regards to gossip.

Harry seemed to be taking this whole 'anonymity' thing a bit strangely. With his choice of character name, though admittedly only a few people would catch on to. However he'd also kept his dark hair and green eyes, though his hairstyle was drastically different and he lacked any glasses, something that made a startling difference. Harry could tell that Hermione had expected him to make himself look completely unlike himself, to hide who he was completely instead of making reference to his identity and keeping close to his true appearance.

Actually Harry had struggled in the character creation menu for some time - wanting to be himself ' _just Harry'_ but knowing he'd never be able to be himself so obviously. He'd compromised by changing his hairstyle to something he'd never do in real life - made it a bit longer and smoothed it out, and changed the colour to be more red-black than the jet black it actually was. He was taking this as an opportunity to be more and less like himself, to find out what he liked. He may not be able to look properly like himself, but maybe he'd be able to act like himself - whoever that might be- in a way he couldn't in the real world.

He didn't want to pretend to be someone else though - not in looks or in actions. He'd spent enough of his life being someone he wasn't to most people, now he was going to do what he wanted and disregard what others thought. Here he had a clean slate and freedom, and he was going to make use of it.

Not that he'd had the most auspicious start, what with getting lost in Hogwarts already, but that just made things even more interesting.

Things would be considerably less interesting if he really was stuck attending classes for ages, so Harry turned to his friend to ask her about it. Hermione had been very tight-lipped about the game mechanics and what was actually going to be part of the game; Harry had only seen a few locations for the most part, or tested certain actions in the development screen - so he had very little knowledge related to the actual story progress.

Thankfully Hermione was willing to spill some of the information to him now that he was actually in the game - partly he knew, so that he too could share the information if anybody else wanted to know.

"As a Wizard, the school experience is shortened for you compared to non magical players- although there are still some classes you attend for the story, they're very short and the spells you already know are 'learned' almost instantly." Hermione explained. "The game knows that you already know some things, but you have to relearn some bits in the game in order to use them. It doesn't take long though." That explained why he hadn't been able to cast any of the spells he knew already. "Regardless though, graduation isn't far away - people would get bored otherwise." The game was meant to be fun, though to Hermione, attending classes for seven years was plenty fun. Unfortunately she'd been overruled on that opinion.

"The school is also accessible even post-graduation, for additional classes, some quests, and for resources like the library and quidditch pitch." It wouldn't do to restrict access to such a popular area in the game, especially given how important the place was. "In the real world this isn't actioned yet, but McGonagall is planning on running classes for adults, given how poor schooling has been for so long, what with the wars and professors we've had and lack of higher education establishments. Not to mention, some things just aren't taught in school and they're useful to know - enough that we'll host training for certain spells like the patronus." Dementors were still out there, and the British magicals had a very limited spell repertoire for the most part. Not only defensive spells were being taught though - supplementary classes for things like household charms were also available, as well as advanced classes like spellcrafting.

It made sense, though Harry was somewhat surprised they were going ahead with it. "What about the 'school experience' though? I know the Headmistress was considering allowing more access between parents and children in school, but opening up the school to adults - isn't that risky? It could affect the students, having parents around in term time, and not everyone might come with good intentions."

"Oh Harry, we're not at war anymore." She reminded him gently. "But there are safeguards in place - the classes will be hosted away from the students so there shouldn't be any crossover, and after the amount of failures with the wards before they were brought down, they've been extensively redone. You don't need to worry." She doubted it'd help to say; Harry was still affected by the war especially when it came to security - not that he was able to really let his guard down considering there were still people after him - dark wizards and paparazzi alike. Though it had been a great loss for Hogwarts wards to break, it also came as an opportunity to carefully replace them - with the whole wizarding community pulling together to cast the strongest wards they could. It also released the curse on the DADA professorship, finally.

"Anyway, you're here to have fun, not listen to me giving guidance to new players." The brunette witch waved her friend off, to Harry's amusement as he was ushered along. "Off you go to classes now." She teased.

Opening up his inventory to look at his class schedule, a quest popped up once he selected it, to send him to his first class.

Of course it had to be potions.

Notes: Sorry for the delay everyone, I got stuck part way through and took ages trying to find and fix what was bugging me about this chapter. I've also had a lot going on over here, my granddad just died somewhat unexpectedly and my nan isn't doing too well either. Anyway, with luck you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The first potions class wasn't actually too bad - he certainly wasn't singled out which was a definite improvement over reality. The teacher wasn't someone he recognised - possibly a custom character, especially since the game didn't actually require an actual Potion Master or Mistress - merely someone with theoretical knowledge for the most part, as there was no danger of brewing in a virtual reality. The class was short, merely covering safety in the potion lab and basic processes (turning off and on the heat, what should never go in a cauldron, how to add things to the cauldron etc). Things that Snape had never taught him outright, that they'd had to pick up - so Harry could get why the refresher was useful. He didn't doubt people would learn things here, even if it was just in these two minute classes. Regardless, attending the class gave him a small amount of experience points, plus knowledge and the skill to create potions within the game.

After that quick lesson it was on to charms class. It was in this classroom that he noticed the difference that Hermione had mentioned between magical and non-magical or underage players. While Harry learned the levitation charm the first time he cast the spell at the direction of the NPC version of Professor Flitwick, he saw other players casting the spell a few more times, clearly trying to learn it properly and having various degrees of success. It seemed like already some non magical players were getting into the game. He couldn't tell who they were of course, and there were only a few of them so far. More would be pouring into the game but would likely take more time looking around and getting used to playing than the magicals - especially casting with wands.

Now that he was paying attention though, he could see not only other magicals learning the spell quickly and leaving, but also a few non-magicals who weren't so absorbed in spell casting. Instead a couple of them seemed to be paying close attention to the rest - to the players who seemed to know what they were doing. Likely family members of magicals who were finally getting a peek into the world they previously could only hear about second hand. Honestly Harry couldn't imagine what it must be like for them - even with the effort going into keeping families in touch with each other, to see their child go off into a whole other world that they couldn't fully understand or join themselves...

Well, he could see why they would look around with such wary curiosity.

Having 'learned' the levitation spell (and gained the exp for attending the lesson), Harry left the classroom and rather than go to the common room for the short break between classes, he carried on to transfiguration, the class he had next. It gave him time to read his class books without distraction so he'd have more time to do whatever he wanted that evening (if it was anything like reality). He also learned a few more spells by finding them in the book and giving them a try, though when he tried to do this for a spell he didn't know he wasn't able to learn it that way. It looked like it had to be done properly for it to work and he would have to practice to get it right, just like in the real world. Idly, Harry wondered if he would be able to cast spells in the real world that he had learned in the game - the wand motions and pronunciation would be correct if nothing else.

Eventually the break was over and it was time for transfiguration. The lesson was more demonstrative than practical, with only a short section at the end to cast the spell (which he could, it was a first year spell after all). If nothing else he was going to get a decent refresher for all his spells, which was hardly a bad thing. Hermione's spell repertoire had kept them alive and he was well aware that his own selection was fairly limited, though that was often more down to having favorites that he used under fire as opposed to a lack of knowledge for alternative spells. He'd adopted the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' approach with spellcasting in the war, but it'd be fun to learn more and branch out a bit. Spells like 'Stupefy' and 'Expelliarmus' were effective, but hardly original.

Frankly, he no longer had so much going on as he did when he was still attending Hogwarts proper. Too busy being a kid and having his life at risk to truly delve into the different branches of magic or too deeply into anything that wasn't immediately useful for his continued survival. Heck even then he'd focused more on defensive magic than anything else - it'd been Hermione who had known all the survival spells that'd actually kept them alive that year on the run.

Sometimes Harry wondered if he'd ever stop relying on Hermione to take care of him. From making sure he made it to classes on time, protecting them all year on the run the woods in a tent, now she kept him busy and away from the fame that so bothered him. One day he'd stand on his own feet and be the one looking out for her, but in the meantime he just tried to help out as he could.

In a way it was sad that in order to truly experience the wizarding world he had to do so through a virtual/magical simulacrum. Needing anonymity so that his fame didn't get in the way - whether it be in how people looked at him or treated him, to how he perceived any kind of attention cast his way. Ultimately it didn't matter the source of the discomfort, only that it was uncomfortable for him to go out in public, or really feel like a regular magical person at all.

Here he could do that though - in as much as he possibly could be a regular magical person, considering his penchant for being a trouble magnet. Given his luck variable, he had no idea what his experience in the game might be like, but he was eager to find out.

Following Transfiguration was the Defence class, which had no spellcasting but instead ran an overview of the class and information about some of the more common (but still harmful) pests that magical people were likely to run into. The pests included doxies and gnomes, chizpurfles and various other creatures (all at or below xxx rating, mostly below) that non-magical households in particular would need to be aware of. Harry learned a few things himself in that class but it struck him how these simple topics hadn't been covered - as magical households would already know about them. The lack of proper care with regards to making sure that non-magical households were aware of the sorts of pests that magic could lure to their home had been easy to fix - so much so that it was outright offensive that it had not been done before. A clear disregard to the non-magic borns.

Either way things were getting to a better place now and this game was showcasing many of the improvements. It was definitely pleasant for Harry to see some of these positive changes in magical society.

It was good, but still somewhat unnerving that he was learning so much from attending Hogwarts in a game. Sure, it was meant to mirror reality and the lessons were designed to share useful tidbits in bite-sized chunks, but still. Being back here felt so strange to him - even though he wasn't truly 'here' at all. Being back at Hogwarts, going to classes, like he'd never left and the war had never happened? Truly strange. Harry couldn't imagine how much difficulty other magicals would be having just being here. It was tough enough for him, and he'd only seen the castle ruined by the final battle - he couldn't imagine what it must be like for those who had attended during the Carrow's reign.

Knowing that it was all virtual helped a great deal actually - no matter how much the place looked like Hogwarts, it didn't feel the same to him. Lacking that sensation of powerful old magic that the castle produced in the real world, being here didn't really feel to him like he was in the castle at all, despite what his other senses told him.

Still, it was tough going to the classrooms, walking the halls, with all the memories they still reminded him of. He could only imagine what it was like for the older generation though - for those who had left Hogwarts years ago and didn't expect to see it again. It was unfortunate, but Hogwarts alumni rarely if ever had the opportunity to return to the castle unless they took a position within it. That was no longer the case, but it had been that way for many years until now. The Magical world had experienced great changes in the last year, and Harry had no doubt that it had only been able to happen because of the sheer amount of people who died - including the majority of the pureblood traditionalists but frankly just so many magicals in general. For the most part, those who would resist the changes being made weren't able to do so, and that was why such tremendous changes were able to take place.

Harry shook off such thoughts though, not about to let the past hold him back if he could help it. He was here to do a job - and have fun of course. He wanted to experience this, even if it was hitting a bit close to home. With that in mind he carried on to his next lesson before lunch, rather enjoying these bite-sized classes.

-Notes-

Another chapter up! Sorry for the delay, I got a little stuck at one point, plus personal stuff came up _  
Anyway, hopefully you will enjoy. Let me know of any errors/improvements, or suggestions if you have any!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Eating in the game was something he'd been curious about, and despite now having food in his mouth, he still was. The game interfaced with his mind, so the food tasted like what he'd expect. However, out of curiosity he'd tried a bite of broccoli - something he knew he disliked in the real world, and found it wasn't bad. It tasted the same, and yet he wasn't having a negative response to it. Perhaps it was because the flavor was in his mind rather than on his tongue, but honestly he wasn't sure how that worked - why would he be alright with the flavor in the game but absolutely hate it in the real world?

The cop-out answer was 'magic' of course, but he set it aside to ask Hermione later. It made little difference he supposed - he'd get to try food he usually wouldn't enjoy, or at least wouldn't be limited with what he ate. Food in the game had certain effects, the most common of which was a replenishing of magic. He didn't know much more than that at the moment though - Harry had only been a tester for very specific things, mostly a few environs and spell casting. To ensure that even the testers could enjoy the game, most of them had a specialization - for example even within environs Harry had mostly been limited to certain places, places he'd been to in real life like Hogwarts. Others had tested things like live mechanics, or the taste of food.

Harry had no idea how the variable that was 'magic' was handled though. Magic was a wild and often unpredictable thing, the slightest mistake or interaction leading to strange results. It was why Madam Pomfrey was held in such high regard - to be the mediwitch, especially to a school of children, meant she had to be very skilled in undoing magicks that had gotten tangled together and morphed into something strange. Harry had once seen two students who had been fighting in the halls - one had cast a leg locker curse and the other a jelly-legs jinx, and when the two combined the two had found their legs had literally melded together into one solid limb. Without a counter curse, as it wasn't a structured spell, fixing such mishaps took a lot of skill and care.

The bottom line was that magic was volatile. It was amazing and powerful, but if unstructured it could do all kinds of damage. It was really no wonder that Hermione kept the magic variable of the game a secret even to him. Who knew what might happen - the game was magical enough as it was, and they were even now still trying to find ways to prevent a person's actual magic from responding during gaming, as still sometimes happened during stressful experiences. It wouldn't do if players were casting magic in their bedrooms while playing a videogame!

Those were problems for people with far bigger brains than his - it was all such theoretical knowledge and he was a more practical person, it went way over his head. Speaking of which, the mysteries of how he suddenly enjoyed eating broccoli in the game weren't going to be answered by him. Sighing in amused confusion, Harry got to his feet. It was dinner time (though the intro was instanced, so it wasn't evening for everyone, just those at the same stage as him) so he had some free time. Actually he had plenty of free time, but it wasn't worth faffing about at the early stages when he still had so much to learn, which would make things easier for him.

There was one thing he was determined to do - which was to uncover all of Hogwarts. Although the map was fairly simple (and not wholly reliable, given how you could jump from one spot in the castle to the other side of it just by stepping because of the castle's magic) it was looking to be a tough achievement. Hermione had given him a vague warning that it wouldn't be so easy - after all, very few people knew all the secrets of the castle. Sure, many people knew a fair few, but unless they all got together and figured it out then they'd never completely fill it out. For example only a handful of people knew about the Chamber of Secrets, where it was or how you got into it, and Harry knew for a fact that it was in the game because he'd had to let Hermione into it for mapping.

Whilst it was on his mind he decided to head in that direction - may as well take a look and uncover it on his map. He was also curious as to how Hermione would have made the Chamber accessible without a parselmouth - if it turned out that there wasn't then he'd be a bit annoyed - it meant anyone who figured it out would likely come after him for help. As Ron had shown though, it was possible to memorize parseltongue without being able to understand it, but you still had to hear it first to get the sounds right.

As it turned out, upon reaching the girl's bathroom, it was Mrytle who would get them in - but only if asked correctly. The ghost popped up as he entered along with an optional quest to find out the mystery of her ghost in the bathroom. It turned out to be as difficult as he expected - the slightest mis-step with his words had her diving into a toilet and flooding the place, with a notification coming up telling him to try again later. Fortunately he had no need to do so as he already knew how to get into the hidden chamber. Heading instead to the sink, it turned out that knowing the truth already qualified him to complete the quest and the sink dropped down into a tunnel.

The quest gave him a huge sum of exp for completing it, as well as a hefty amount of gold. It was a pretty huge reward for so early in the game... but it should have taken a fair bit longer - and would, Harry reflected, for anyone who didn't know the secret already. Harry smirked to himself as he watched the sink shift out of the way and a new quest come up. The quest goaded him to try his luck against Slytherin's beast, warning him that it was a dungeon quest.

Grinning with anticipation, Harry launched himself down the pipe for another long, brutally fast ride down underneath the castle and the lake.

The next time Hermione saw him, UNO was wearing a strange leather coat that shone slightly green in the light and was looking faintly smug. She eyed it suspiciously - she'd not seen any item like that in any of the stores or starter quests, and it was very distinctive.

"Where did you get that coat? Its not anything I recognise."

At this, UNO looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you see, I thought I'd explore Hogwarts some more - see just how close it is to the original." He prevaricated. "And well, I suppose I might have ended up in the chamber of secrets."

He paused, clearly expecting to be verbally eviscerated for going into such a dangerous place alone, but Hermione seemed at a loss for words - her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at him. He hurried onwards in the hope of avoiding the explosion entirely. "When I went down the tunnel it felt like I entered a mini-dungeon or something. The basilisk was there, and I killed it again. It dropped a load of awesome materials - though not very much of them. I ended up going out and back in again a few times to get enough snakeskin for the coat and a few other bits." You'd think it would have dropped more, but unfortunately not.

"Probably best not to spread it around though - it's a tough battle, and part of one of the secrets of the castle. Plus the material and item drops are great, and I don't want that to be nerfed." The coat alone gave him a huge stat boost, but if everyone was farming it then it'd definitely be restricted. As it was he'd likely gotten in all those times because of a bug allowing the instant respawn.

"You know, that space down there really is a waste though." Harry pointed out. "In the real world too I mean - and the snake remains. We should really look into doing something about all that. Could you imagine having history of magic classes about Hogwarts, down in Salazar's den?"

"That would be pretty amazing" Hermione agreed, having reacquired her voice. "Though you do realise I'm going to have to report the bug on the chamber so you can't farm it anymore? Though without the basilisk, you could probably make a secret den there or something I suppose. It wouldn't count as housing I don't think, as it's still part of the castle, but we'll see. As for the real world, I'll definitely bring it up with McGonnagall - it'd be just amazing to do something with the space down there. Imagine being able to read in Salazar's hideaway! Oooh it'd be so atmospheric!" The witch practically lit up at the thought.

"Of course that's your interest Hermione." Harry snickered at her. "Personally I think it'd just be good to clean the place up a bit and make use of the space - bit of a waste otherwise." Not to mention the tactical advantage of moving around in the pipes. The snake had been able to sneak around the castle for months on the sly - it could have come in useful while the castle was occupied.

"Having the basilisk was a pretty awesome Hogwarts Secret though." Harry praised. "I wouldn't worry about other players even finding it for a while though, never mind defeating the snake. I only managed because of luck the first few times - and prior knowledge of course."

Despite his assurance, Hermione seemed pretty cheesed off with him. "Ha-UNO." She corrected herself, arms folded over her chest. "You're level _fourteen_ for Morgana's sake. No matter your luck variable it _shouldn't_ have possible for you to defeat the basilisk _at all. It's a level 40 boss."_ Worryingly for Harry, her voice had risen a few octaves and it looked like he hadn't avoided her explosion so much as postponed it a little. "How did you even dent it?" His friend seemed honestly at a loss, and his outright amusement only seemed to anger her further.

"Actually, when I first went into the dungeon I was only level 7." He admitted. "And just finding my way into the chamber bumped me up three or four levels too." So he'd still been equipped with his basic starter gear, some of which he still wore underneath his new coat.

When Hermione seemed torn between frustrated anger, disbelief and exasperation, UNO grinned again more widely, very familiar with the expression on her face. "Don't worry Hermione, I don't think anyone else will be following in my footsteps for a long time." He assured. "And I'll leave it alone, I promise. Besides, I'm the helpful bug-catcher right? Its my job to find loopholes and point them out to you." Rather than seeming pleased with him, Hermione merely made a sound akin to a boiling teakettle and Harry backed away a bit, still far too amused for the amount of danger he knew himself to be in.

Abruptly though, Hermione seemed to lose her bluster and let out a draining sigh. "I suppose it is still kind of your job." Even if he was off the clock as it were, she had known in the beginning that Harry would always find a way to step out of the system and mix things up. The fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself was more important than him sticking to the script, she supposed.

"Just don't tell anyone else about the Chamber alright? They'll have to find it on their own, and maybe in the future we'll make it accessible outside of the instance too." It would be very awesome to do something with the place.

Before the war it wouldn't have been so important - aside from the tunnel access and the like - because frankly Hogwarts already had many empty rooms. Clearing the Chamber would make little difference - it would have just been another empty space without a use. Plus with Binns teaching history it wouldn't have even been of significance to that class, as he never deviated from the same book every year. Now however the castle was filled with adults as well as younger students, all wishing to learn different things and many of those once-empty rooms were getting used where they hadn't been before. There was still a large population loss what with the war, but less so than the last time Voldemort had been around. The magical community was still low in numbers, but they were banding together and breaking out of the mold they'd been in before.

While Harry hadn't visited Hogwarts much since he left, many other had and he knew it had changed significantly. Before the hallways had always been almost entirely empty during class hours, but now there were often people about. Hogwarts had become a hub for everyone wanting to learn, or wanting access to experts in various fields. Plus with the inclusion of magical creatures and a fair amount of interest in them, it wasn't unusual for people to turn up just to see them, or see what sorts of things they taught or were interested in learning. Hogwarts had become a true center for learning - for everyone.

Hogwarts in the game was similarly popular, thought admittedly that was partly to do with the fact that everyone was at starter level and thus hadn't actually made it out of the castle yet. He knew that access to the Atrium wasn't too far into the game, but the intention had been for everyone starting the game to spend some time at Hogwarts, for it to be the home base as it were. Harry was enjoying it and could see the appeal, but at the same time he was eager to progress and leave the castle for the wider world.

It'd be going a lot faster if he didn't get distracted so much though, like with the Chamber, but ultimately he was having fun and that was what was important. With that in mind though, the wizarding savior gave a jaunty wave to his friend and promised not to spill the beans on the chamber. That said, he gave a dramatic turn that made his coat swirl around him in a similar fashion to Snape's billowy robes, and strode off down the hall to Hermione's snort of laughter.

-Notes-

One thing I've noticed, because I'm using word online it seems to sometimes muck up for some reason. The most common is when I type I, it replaces it with Ii. Same with Iit, and a few others, though it doesn't seem to do it every time, just sometimes. I'm not sure why it does this, and it sometimes does it a few seconds after I've carried on with the sentence so I don't always see it. Anyway, if you do spot this error, let me know. It is very annoying but I can't seem to make it stop.


	10. Chapter 10

AN

Hey all, so I'm sorry there are some delays with the chapters, I'm a pretty sporadic writer. Because of this (and a still-developing process for keeping on top of what I've already said/plan to put in the story later) there may be inconsistencies in the story. If you notice any, please let me know - some I may be aware of but many I may not, and I frequently lose track of them.

Chapter 10

With all the levels he'd gained down in the Chamber, Harry now found himself to be the player with the highest level around. Admittedly the level range was limited because he was still in the instanced part of the game for beginners, but still. Many other players now eyed him curiously because of his unique attire - they were all still wearing the starter uniform, with a few variations. So far nobody had actually asked him where he got it though, he supposed it had something to do with his appearance and the fact that with the coat on, he looked a little intimidating. Not to mention the green was a rather Slytherin color, so some of the looks he was getting were a little distrustful even. It didn't dampen his mood at all, if anything it made him even more amused - nobody would guess who he was when he looked like this.

Despite his getting sidetracked, Harry was still in the front of the pack with his progression of the introductory section. Mostly because the majority of players joining them tonight were non-magicals who took longer in the classrooms to learn the spells, and had longer lessons in general. As a wizard, the game only needed to offer him tidbits of information rather than much more, especially as he wasn't really learning any new spells just yet. It was likely to change later on, but for now he kept ahead of the pack.

In truth, Harry was still getting used to his appearance as UNO. It was strange having his hair fall differently to what he was used to, feeling slightly smoother too. It was longer even than when he was in his fourth year. His wand too took a little getting used to - only because the feel of it in his hand wasn't as smooth as his real wand, and was a little bit thinner. He could cast with it alright, but it would take a little longer before it stopped feeling off to him.

Attending classes and casting spells helped him adjust to his wand though, but did nothing for his hair. It was just unnerving when he turned his head and saw the smooth strands out of the corner of his eyes, because of their length and relative straightness, they sometimes brushed against his face. He couldn't imagine how Hermione handled her bushy hair - it tickled something fierce when his own got in his face and hers always seemed to be doing the same.

It didn't stop him from progressing though, and soon UNO had attended a handful of classes. The Magical History class was probably the toughest, as it had talked about the recent war. While the game kept it short, it was longer than his previous classes and on a touchy subject to boot. Harry couldn't help but be pleased though - despite how hard it was to sit through that class, Hermione had ensured that the truth was getting out to the public. The truth of who Tom Riddle was, and of how the Magical World had been taken advantage of by a man who used their delusions of superiority against them.

Leaving the classroom, he understood then why there were a few people lingering outside the door talking. Clearly magicals, they'd been given a lot to think about from that class.

One of the loiterers spotted him and Harry recognised him as Marcus, one of Hermione's team, a tester like him who was here to play through and lead the way for the other players. While Harry wasn't recognisable as his avatar, he stood out because of his garb - only someone like Harry would manage to find something like that so early in the game.

"Hey UNO. What did you think of the class?" The brown haired tester nodded towards the Magical History classroom. "It was definitely more than I was expecting for the introductory class." Marcus continued.

"I'm glad they're getting the truth out there." Harry told him, thoughtful on the subject. "It is unnerving to hear it, but misinformation practically ruled the Magical World until recently. Its important that we start getting the truth out there, stop accepting cover-ups and letting people lie all the time." The Daily Prophet had fostered so much resentment and fear, spread so many lies and that just wasn't acceptable. "Voldemort thrived in the environment that the magical people provided for him before now. We can't allow that to happen again." If nothing else, using the name Voldemort convinced the tester of who he was talking to; few people said that name without reacting in some way.

"I get what you mean. I know that there was the short exposé on Voldemort after the war was over, but its important that it make the history books, you know? If we pretend this stuff never happened, it ultimately will again." They didn't want to keep allowing Dark Lords to come to power like they had with Grindelwald and Voldemort.

"Anyway, I'd better carry on - I'll see you around." Harry waved his goodbyes and continued on, eager to proceed with the game and get out of the intro.

With his quest log telling him that his school day was over, Harry headed to the Great Hall for some dinner and then up to the common room. Thankfully as a wizard he didn't have much in the way of homework, except for potions where he had to explain what the difference was in cutting, chopping and dicing an ingredient. It turned out he wasn't alone with homework though, for when he later made it up to his common room, he found players already camped out in front of the fire trying to work on the homework parchments.

The scene was so reminiscent of so many days as a student with Ron and Hermione that Harry froze for a moment, staring. He was forced to move when someone else came in through the portrait hole and found him blocking the way. An apology slipped out more out of habit than conscious intent but Harry moved out of the way all the same, the interruption jolting him out of his reverie. Those days were gone, and the students in the common room weren't the friends he knew. Hsrry moved off to the boy's dorms; he'd do his homework in the morning.

The next day dawned early, for Harry, though only a few minutes had passed in reality. He worked on his homework in his bed first, before heading down to the Great Hall. Attending breakfast gave him his next class of the day: charms, which would bring with it a familiar face.

As Professor Flitwick taught the class the value of properly pronouncing a spell (with the story of the guy who spelt a buffalo onto his chest instead of its intended effect) Harry wondered if Hermione had somehow charmed the Hogwarts staff into the game - it was exactly like them down to the lessons they were teaching and their mannerisms. Flitwick even fell off his stack of books when he introduced UNO! Not that UNO had the history that Harry Potter did, but still.

By the time he stepped out of charms class the feeling of slightly unnerving familiarity to his real Hogwarts years was just starting to fade. Fortunately the last of it disappeared as he was distracted barely two steps out of the classroom.

Harry was pleasantly surprised to see what could only be George. Clearly not intending to hide himself, the WWW proprietor had managed to charm his robe orange and had named his avatar 'Gred'. Harry couldn't tell if he was in the game as a staff member or as a player - though he knew the creative wizard had been consulted with the game creation, Harry hadn't seen much of him personally.

Still trying to get a gauge on whether the ginger was playing or working - or both - UNO made his way over. It was unlikely that as a player he'd be able to get robes like that, Harry couldn't really talk given that he was walking around in high-level snakeskin gear himself.

To add to his questions, George seemed to know who he was just by looking at him (though the older wizard knew him well enough to put the clues together so it was no surprise really, only that it happened so fast). George didn't give him away though, even as he grinned widely at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders boisterously. "UNO my man!" He all but shouted in Harry's ear. "How are you doing this fine day? Might I interest you in some wares to spice things up a bit?" The awfully orange-clad wizard opened up his robes and his UI brought up a shopfront window to trade on.

Laughing, UNO closed the window and shook his head, slipping out of the Weasley's grasp as he did so. "No thanks, I'm causing enough trouble without the help so far." He indicated his garb with a wide grin.

"So I see my good man!" George exclaimed. "Let me know if you change your mind. The shop is available once you reach the Atrium but until then you'll see me around Hogwarts, or there's owl-order forms about too." Harry could just imagine how much trouble the other wizard had gotten into with this stunt - but then magic and mayhem did rather go hand in hand as he well knew.

"So you're working here?" Harry asked, unable to take trying to figure it out on his own. Guessing anything with the twins, even just George alone, was a near impossible task.

"Nah, I'm a player. I just managed to get on before everyone else." George admitted unrepentantly, as if Hermione wouldn't scream him to require a new set of ears if she found out.

"Of course you've managed to break the rules already. As if I'd ever beat your record." Harry retorted, feigning disgruntlement.

"Nah I think the only time you beat me on that was in your second year. You were in trouble before you even made it to the school!" The prankster laughed at him. "Even we never managed that!" Not for lack of trying with their train-ride antics though.

"Yeah yeah." Harry retorted grumpily, recalling how much trouble he'd gotten into for that. He'd never understood the twins - he was fine with getting into trouble for a good cause, but playing pranks and enduring the endless detentions that the twins had? He wasn't sure he could hack it. Saying that though Harry had managed to spend plenty of time in detention without even the satisfaction of enjoying what got him there in the first place, so he supposed there was more appeal to doing things that'd get him into trouble. Flaunting the rules had always felt different to Harry than pranking, but perhaps he'd just been too serious in the past. The result had been the same in many cases, and the pranks had brought smiles to faces, so it was a worthy enough cause. Even if those pranks had sent Mrs Weasley on a rampage on many an occasion.

Yes, he was beginning to see the appeal of such things. Going against the grain rather was what he was good at, after all.

Deciding to change the subject, the orange clad wizard folded his arms over his chest and nodded towards the Charms classroom. "So how're classes treating ya? I didn't bother with them myself - popped in a few to see what they were like, but otherwise? If I didn't attend them in the real Hogwarts why would I bother in here?"

Disinclined to contradict that logic, Harry just shook his head in amusement at his friend. He knew full well that Fred and George had worked hard at school - just never where anyone could see them.

"Well, you didn't miss much. It's a lot like the real Hogwarts, but better in many cases. Easier as a real wizard too. A lot of it is the same though - just came out from Flitwick teaching about proper pronunciation and all that." Talk about a flashback to first year.

George laughed, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. UNO eyed that grin warily, but couldn't help but demand an explanation for it.

"Flitwick tells that story to every first year class." The orange wizard explained. "Of course, Fred and I just had to try it - you know how it is, Bill and Charlie coming home talking about it of course we would - we used dad's wand to do it. Darn thing near trampled the kitchen to pieces before mum managed to banish the thing away. She wasn't impressed, that was for sure. Dad was though - turns out that the spell is actually pretty tough so getting any result at all was pretty impressive." Of course Mr Weasley had always supported them in their mayhem, from behind his wife's back most of the time of course.

Unable to help but laugh at the story, Harry couldn't imagine such a thing happening when he was a kid. Letting loose a rampaging buffalo in a house - never mind the Burrow, cramped and cluttered as it was!

Even though such days were long past - with the loss of Fred and Molly's heartbreak, George was able to smile past it. Harry too smiled - those fond memories were too humorous to look back on with the sorrow that shaded them. So much had changed, but that sadness didn't need to linger. Their loved ones were waiting for them, of that he was certain.

"You know, we should get together in the game sometime, once I'm out of the intro." Harry suggested, a very wide grin spreading across his face, the sight of which unnerved several players coming out of the charms classroom. "We could have a lot of fun, I think." Perhaps he really should take a page out of George's book (not something he would ever have thought he'd do before now). The answering grin on George's face scared a few passing students so Harry took that as a positive sign.

Harry was enjoying the anonymity the game gave him, but he naturally made waves - so he may as well enjoy it and George lived to cause trouble. He could only imagine the mayhem they'd get up to if they hung out togethe.

"Anyway, you better get going mate - you'll never make it out to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes at this rate!" George exclaimed, shooing the younger wizard away. "Best hurry on to class!" He mocked, trying to sound like a teacher.

"I'd best hurry up then." Harry replied with a laugh, obediently trotting off towards his next classroom.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

UNO attended a couple more classes, uncovering a little more of the map as he did so. One very good thing about the in-game map was that it labeled each room discovered. Whether it was an official room like the Great Hall or a particular classroom, or just 'that empty room with the dead plant', it showed up on the map. This was especially useful given how much the castle moved around. Already the defence classroom had moved, showing on his map an isolated room far to the East of where he was now, and on the second floor instead of the third as it had been yesterday (in game time). Familiar with Hogwarts' layout, Harry knew that particular section of the castle was towards the Owlery, which he had yet to explore in game. Still, it was rather odd to see the classroom so far away on his map, without any pathway showing how he'd discovered it.

He did wonder if there were any map-related plans for the real Hogwarts though – he could imagine it being asked for, especially by students who played the game and attended Hogwarts in real life. Heck, students had been wanting a map of the castle the entire time he was there – and he had to admit, if four industrious students had managed to make a map that also displayed the names and locations of those within it, it had to be possible for a standard one to be made. Harry figured he'd leave that issue for someone else to deal with though.

It wasn't much longer before he found himself completing the introduction to the game, announced with fireworks and fanfare, and an icon asking if he was ready to truly begin his story as a wizard. It had covered the basics of each class and key principles of being a wizard as part of the magical world, as well as gameplay and the UI. It was definitely a pared down version, considering he was a part of the wizarding world and knew how to use magic, but it left enough there for grounding in the basics and to set the pattern for the what to do after the guided beginning was over. Taking on quests was still a little odd for him but he was a lot more at ease with it now.

UNO left the instanced starting area to join the rest of the players in the game proper, finding himself ported to his common room upon doing so. There wasn't a huge visible difference except that the level variation amongst the players was greater. Because he'd dawdled in the chamber there were many players leveled higher than him, and while the outfits varied amongst them, UNO's basilisk skin attire was still the highest level garment he could see, and the most exotic.

There were more people loitering now too - not just due to the sheer number of people in the game proper, but also because there was more 'homework'. Lessons gave a follow up homework quest sometimes, to master a spell or write out a short essay, for spell applications, limitations and so on. Even he was having a slightly harder time of it, as some of the spells he was rusty with or outright didn't know or remember - having focused so hard on DADA for most of his life, many spells not related to it had either been forgotten or just not learned fully in the first place.

Now, it wasn't unusual for UNO to pass by students in the halls on the way to his classes, just loitering and having fun rather than traveling to another quest/class. Now that the introductory section was over, players were encouraged to do more than just go from one class to the next, since they knew the basics of how to play now.

His quest log had started branching out; he no longer had solely classes to attend. It also encouraged him to explore the castle or take a trip out to the Atrium. At such a low level and with only a few spells available to him he was still a Hogwarts student so he needn't look for work or lodgings yet, and learning new spells and the like was his best bet to prepare himself for the harder content. His passing through of the starter area had qualified him for promotion though - he was no longer labeled as a Hogwarts First Year, but instead was now a second year.

He hadn't seen anyone higher than a second year so far, nor had he seen George again. He wasn't sure how the other wizard was managing to get into the phased intro area either - he had to be circumventing the system somehow but he doubted he'd ever figure it out. Not that it really mattered anyway - Harry had more than enough to get on with without trying to untangle George's tricks. George may have been the 'nicer' of the twins, but he was still one of the notorious 'Weasley Twins'. Trying to figure out his plots was asking for a good pranking to say the least.

Not that pranks would go amiss, the dark haired teen mused as he eyed the relaxed players doing their homework or just hanging out in the common room. Nothing forged bonds faster than a common enemy after all, and being a prank master might be a lot of fun. The idea was startlingly appealing.

Not that he could do much just yet though - he only had the basic repertoire of spells and potions and while some could be made into pranks, they could easily be undone. Harry knew that the twins had asked the house elves for help in the past - he'd have to find his way to the kitchens and see if they were in the game too. He would have thought so, as the game was about unity for more than just humans, but all magical creatures.

Putting thoughts of pranking aside for the moment, UNO climbed through the portrait hole. He decided to complete the quest sending him to the library first. Though one of the introductory quests had sent him here as a firstie, now that he was a Second Year it opened up more books for him. He wasn't too fussed on reading through all of them just yet, but it was useful to know what was available to him at his current level.

Of course, he wasn't surprised to see Hermione there, books spread out in front of her but dutifully giving advice to several 'students' that had approached her. He gave her a little wave but didn't interrupt, wanting to progress a bit further today. He'd already been playing Magical World Online for hours now and his Real Time clock told him it was almost four in the morning - not so long before he'd be waking up.

With that in mind he didn't linger in the library once he'd seen what new books were accessible to him, though he'd taken a few minutes to skim a couple just to unlock some of the spells he was proficient with in real life. Instead he decided to spend some time on uncovering more of his map of the castle, and see if he came across any more secrets like Slytherin's chamber. There was plenty more opened up to him now that he was out of the beginner section, and while he still had 'main quests' that would help him progress, there was also optional and random quests and secrets to find.

Consider how much of a boost running the Chamber had given him, not to mention rare loot, it definitely looked to be worth his while to find more of the castle's secrets. Fortunately Harry knew the castle pretty well and managed to get some exp for exploring, with bonus experience points for unlocking the hidden tunnels he knew of. A few held loot - items ostensibly left by previous students using the secret pathways. He collected them with pleasure though the items were fairly common for the most part.

Deciding to spend what little time he had left on exploring, Harry managed to uncover all the secret paths he knew of within the castle, as well as the majority of the castle proper before the alarm warning him he had an hour left till he'd be logged out. He left the grounds for later though - not having much time left by that point. Logging out in the player's 'home' gave them an exp boost so he headed back to Gryffindor tower with time to spare.

Fighting back the nostalgia at the sight of the ruby wall hangings in the common room, Harry headed up to his dorm and took a seat on his four poster bed. There were still a few minutes before his alarm was set to wake him, so he opened up his map to take a look at how much progress he'd made. With a startled exclamation, he was pretty galled to find that for all that he'd uncovered, his percentage of the Hogwart's map was at a bare 48%, despite having done almost all he knew of the castle. Unless the map included a huge chunk of the Forbidden Forest as part of it (unlikely) then there was a whole lot more for him to find still. The grounds alone wouldn't give him more than another 25% he reckoned, so that was a lot he was missing.

"I guess I don't know the castle as well as I thought." He said to himself, trying to think of what sort of places he might still be missing. Harry had the combined knowledge of the castle from Fred and George as well as the Marauders, so a measly 48% was a real shock to his ego. He thought he knew more of the castle than anyone, bar the Head teacher! Giving it some thought, he hadn't uncovered the kitchens but that wasn't going to be a huge difference. It did lead him to thinking about the House-Elves though - they had to have somewhere that they lived in, right? Not to mention supply cupboards or something.

Before he could give it anymore thought he was ejected from the game as he woke in the real world. The mystery of the Hogwarts map would plague him for the rest of the day however.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Harry logged into MWO that night determined to discover more of Hogwart's secrets. He'd spent the day getting feedback on the game with the rest of the staff in the Department of Magical Integration. That meant reading through messages sent by players, and being talked to by apparently everyone he met about how great the game was, or how weird it felt to be in a virtual world. There was some fallout of course - not everyone was happy about the design of the game, or the inclusion of non-magical people, or the representation of the Magical World or the Blood Wars.

Harry didn't much care for those sorts of opinions though - especially since most of them seemed to come from people who had supported the Pureblood agenda.

Naturally, the office had been busy as hell during the day - not everyone had decided to play it during the night after all, and the game ran constantly so players could continue. Though the number of players online dropped dramatically after 9am or so, there were a few others online - people with strange sleep schedules, as well as a good chunk of the DoMI staff who had been working the previous night from outside the game. Only a few had gone inside the game in a guidance or monitoring role, many had been awake the whole night fixing any issues that came up. The system that ran the game was very versatile so thankfully nothing major had come up, but human oversight was still important.

The success of the first day boded well for them though - Harry himself knew a few people were planning to wait and see how well the game did before taking a look themselves. Given how much noise there was about it there was sure to be even more players joining in if only to see what all the fuss was about. Harry approved of that – it was important that people know what was being shown and told to everyone. He didn't think that there were any mistakes but it was worth fixing it early if there were any, not to mention gauging the responses from the different factions.

So far the purebloods had been fussing of course, if only because of their prejudice and fear against having muggles see their world, and having the sordid truth of magical history coming out. The fear wasn't entirely unwarranted – it was a calculated risk to let people know the truth of the mayhem from the last few decades, and even before that with Grindelwald's war. Owning up to their mistakes may gain them negative attention from many corners, but hiding the truth would be worse. Magical people were far too used to getting away without consequences, especially for some of their worst actions politically. Not to mention how, by releasing the information themselves, it prevented others digging it up and putting a slant on it – like how Dumbledore had been smeared after his death because of what happened in his youth.

(Harry was pretty sure even those truths could be found in the game, for those who wanted to read a biography about Dumbledore.)

Unfortunately that all meant that the truth of the last war and Harry himself were available within the game. He avoided anything to do with that, but when he'd stopped into the library there had been a fair number of people around the biography section, most likely looking him up. Hopefully it'd keep them away from him in reality though, if they could get their answers from there. He was aware that people were looking for him in-game, aware that he was a player, but he wasn't about to come clean with his identity. He wasn't impressed with their motive to be here, but hoped that they would come to enjoy the game on its own merit, regardless of their initial reason for playing.

Right now though, none of that stuff mattered. Because right now, Harry was UNO, and he had an important mission to complete.

He was going to find the House Elves.

Harry knew that they worked in the kitchens, so he started there. He hadn't seen any of the Hogwart's elves so far, though he knew they maintained the cleanliness of the castle, especially the student dorms. He'd never seen them in real life either though, so he had to start at the one place he knew they worked in the open.

The kitchens looked just as he remembered them, and they were bustling full of elves as they always were in reality. Harry wasn't entirely sure why – it wasn't like they had set meals or anything in game. You could eat and it tasted just like the real thing, but it wasn't a requirement at all. During the intro he'd eaten a little and gotten a small buff for it for intelligence – which made sense, since it was a school. Food could help recover magic power too, but he'd hardly been spending enough to need it, bar his little adventure in the Chamber.

The house elves were cooking as though they had an army to feed, but that didn't stop a few from splitting off at the sight of him, coming over with squeaking greetings. UNO waved at them in greeting and knelt down to be closer to eye-level to them, much to their shy pleasure.

"How can wes be helping Master UNO?" One of the elves asked him, twisting its spindly hands together and looking at him with bulbous eyes. The other elves around it chipped in with their shrill voices, agreeing and offering help.

"Well uh- you see I was hoping to uncover the Hogwarts Map." Harry told them a bit sheepishly, bringing it to the fore in his UI. "And I realised I hadn't come down here yet to uncover the kitchens."

With the map pulled out fully, the elves crowded around it, exclaiming in curiousity. The map was pretty typical in that it gave him a minimap in the corner of his vision, but had a full map he could pull out. Since it was part of the UI, it couldn't be unequipped but did have a physical form when he pulled it out to look at it.

"Master UNO is missing the house elf dormitories!" One elf squeaked, only to be shushed by the others. Curiousity piqued, Harry looked at the elf that had spoken up. "Oh? Well that makes sense I suppose. I've only ever seen house elves here or when they were called for – but it makes sense that you guys have your own dorms." He hadn't given it much thought in the past to be honest, even with Hermione's S.P.E.W. he'd not given thought to such things as where they slept.

He wasn't sure why he was so surprised to find that the elves would have their own Hogwarts dormitory. It wasn't like the elves could all live in the kitchen after all, and they weren't mistreated here so of course they had to have their own space. He could tell by the expression of the elf that had spoken and the silence of all the elves around him that their dorm was something private though, so he gave a wide smile and backed off the subject. "You don't have to tell me about it – its okay. You guys are entitled to your own privacy, you know?" It seemed simple to him – he wouldn't want someone rummaging around in his space either.

The elves seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and looked amongst themselves as Harry leaned back. As he did so a notification came up indicating he had gained reputation with the Hogwarts House Elves and was now on friendly terms with them. Following that was a quest to befriend the elves, along with a help window explaining how reputation amongst non-human factions could be earned or lost. Unlike with reputation for humans, non-human reputation was more difficult to gain because it required an understanding of what those creatures valued, their customs and expected behaviours. Harry's respect towards the house elves had gained him reputation with them, but he could just as easily lose it by treating them like humans or making a mistake because of his ignorance towards their culture, something he'd not given much thought towards before.

Harry considered himself – and was considered by others given how he'd been asked to help with the real Hogwarts house elves in including them in the game – to be among the most accepted by elves at the moment. Which really was a sad state of affairs when you took into account how little he knew about them truly, their culture and history. He understood them on a different level to most, but he didn't really know them, something he was just now realising.

Backing off from potentially intruding on their privacy seemed to bolster the house elves in front of him though, and the one who had spoken of the dormitories straightened up to face him. "Wes would be honoured if Master UNO wanted to visit the elf-spaces of the castle." It said, and wasn't contradicted by any of the others. "But!" It continued, sticking a pointed finger into the air. "But! He must bes accompanied by an elf!"

"I've got no problem with that." Harry replied bemusedly. "As long as it's not a problem for one of you to come with me. If there are times when you're too busy to, I don't mind coming back when its not so busy." He had no idea what house elves did with their days aside from work, which he knew they enjoyed. As much as he wanted to uncover the map it wasn't like he couldn't take his time a bit if he had to. Besides, elves were always so helpful and he was the one asking for a favour here, so it was only right.

Unfortunately his consideration towards them sent the excitable elves into a tizzy and he could barely untangle the squeaky assurances and words of awe over his kindness that the little creatures wailed at him. Harry did appreciate house elves, but they certainly were an enthusiastic bunch. They took some getting used to, and even he fell into certain traps with them, especially until they got used to him. He treated them like people, but tried to be respectful towards them as another race and culture. It wasn't easy though – Harry had a lot of respect towards those who were able to interact with other races and also humans from other countries. Being able to understand another person and be respectful was much harder than he'd once thought. There was a natural assumption that everyone else followed the same thought processes and had the same history as oneself- no matter knowing intellectually that it wasn't the case, it was still difficult to imagine the world in a whole other perspective. And an entirely different perspective was entirely what non-human magicals had.

In the meantime, the house elves rarely took offence to his slip-ups, even if they did sometimes treat him like he was a bit slow to understand some things. As far as interacting with another race, they were perfect because they were very forgiving of his mistakes.

"Blinky can show Master UNO the way." One of the elves spoke up, indicating another, shy-looking house elf stood beside them. The volunteered elf squeaked but didn't disagree, though it did twist its ears in spindly fingers. Knowing better than to say anything, Harry just nodded agreeably and tried to offer a reassuring smile for the nervous elf.

Apparently satisfied with this arrangement, the elf that had volunteered Blinky began corralling the loitering elves back to their duties. There was what amounted to a mass exodus from where they had all congregated around him, until he was stood in the entrance to the kitchens with just Blinky by his side.

The small elf looked up at him with the bulbous eyes typical of house elves and Harry looked down to meet them. The elf's thin fingers were now held poised close to its chest as Blinky hesitated so Harry took initiative and reached his own hand out. "Ready to show me the way Blinky?" The wizard asked with a reassuring smile.

Though still clearly nervous, Blinky's fingers gripped at his own and gently pulled him towards the door to the kitchens.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

They probably made an amusing sight. Walking down the hallway; UNO stooped over a bit so that the little house elf could hold his hand. An adult house elf averaged in height around three feet, but Blinky wasn't a full grown adult yet so even being on the short side himself, UNO still had to bend awkwardly to keep their hands joined.

Blinky didn't seem bothered by this arrangement, happy enough to pull him along with her skinny arm stretched high to grasp his fingers. She trotted slightly ahead of him, showing him hidden pockets where the elves could slip from one floor to another. There were also closets and other storage spaces – both elf-sized and human-sized.

In no need to hurry, Harry let his guide set the pace as she led him around. They uncovered bits of the map a little at a time, though he got the impression that Blinky was holding back a little on the good stuff. After all, he knew that the elves were aware of the 'come and go room', which while likely unique couldn't be the only curiosity that only the elves knew about.

Slowly his map was filling out though, little pockets of hidden rooms here or there turning up on his map, not to mention a fair few tunnels and passageways that he'd missed. If this was true to reality as Harry thought it was, then he'd and the Marauders both had missed a fair number of useful short cuts around the castle. Often not for lack of skill, but merely because entering them required something unexpectedly awkward, like the one that required you to be wearing purple socks and a pair of gloves to make it all the way down the passage, else it'd only let you take two steps in and drop you in the entrance hall. Useful if you wanted to get to the entrance hall, but since the passage otherwise led to astronomy tower, it was about as far as you could get from the main destination.

The pair mostly walked in silence, barring Harry's enthusiasm over some of the more fun passages. Whenever a question popped into his head he would speak it aloud, but otherwise there was no small talk between them. Blinky's answers weren't all that concise but despite her nervousness she didn't let go of his hand. Speaking with a 'student' was likely very rare and strange for the young elf – or any elf really, so Harry didn't begrudge her anxiety. Frankly he was pleased with himself merely for managing to not leave her bawling as he had with Dobby so many times. His favored elf was dearly missed even if Dobby had been something of an outcast among his own. Despite their rocky start he'd found the elf rather charming for his eccentricity and companionship with humans.

Blinky was nothing like Dobby, and Harry rather doubted he'd find another like him in his lifetime. The little elf had the same stubborn perseverance though, which he appreciated. Despite her discomfort and nerves, she gamely kept on in her task. Harry managed to get her to lighten up a bit during one of the more unusual shortcuts, where in order to use it one had to slip between a suit of armor and a tapestry, straight through the brick wall. Unlike most passages that were, in fact, passages, this one was more like pudding – walking into a wall of pudding, then gravity pulled you down until you came through the ceiling of a hallway half way across the castle and three floors down, with an unnerving sucking sound.

Blinky hadn't favored that one, though Harry didn't share her disquiet over the strange experience. Of course when she told him the passage could be traversed in the opposite direction he did express some uncertainty – if only because there was no marker on the ceiling where you dropped down from. Launching yourself at the ceiling in the hopes of making it into the pudding-tunnel and not just braining yourself on the stone wasn't all that appealing.

Eventually Blinky admitted that they had now mapped out all the hidden pathways and elf tunnels in the castle. It was a nice haul for sure, though he felt like he'd cheated a bit getting help to uncover them instead of finding them himself, but Harry wasn't arrogant enough to think he'd have been able to find all of the paths his house elf escort had shown him. She'd even led him down several tunnels that led to the grounds or further, including one that brought them out past the surrounding mountains to the plains where crops were grown.

Since they spent so long walking the castle, he had noticed how Blinky seemed to make very little sound when she walked, particularly when compared to UNO's clunking footsteps. He'd attempted to step lightly – much to Blinky's quiet amusement. He wouldn't say he was very good at it yet, but he did get a skill come up about it which was good enough for him. While Harry was used to sneaking around in the real world, it was a very different matter to walk lightly whilst also walking normally. Practice would make perfect and all that though.

"What next Blinky?" UNO asked the young elf once the last tunnel had been uncovered. The little house elf shifted on the spot uncomfortably, hesitant on the next step. She visibly firmed herself though, giving herself a nod. She'd been given a task to do, and UNO had shown respect to her and all house elves so far.

"Blinky bes taking young master to the elf den." She said determinedly, tugging him along once more. "Alright then." Harry replied with some bemusement as she strode along, taking him with her. She led him up the stairs to the top floor, to the top of the main staircase. There were suits of armour at the top of the stairs, stood in front of a tapestry of a long dining room. He really shouldn't have been surprised when the little elf stepped up to the tapestry and walked right into it like it wasn't, in fact a tapestry at all. Climbing up behind her, Harry was pleased to see an achievement come up for discovering the elf quarters. The achievement gave him a fair bit of exp as well as improving his relationship with the elves from 'friendly' to 'trusted' - something which gave him another achievement, for getting a non-human reputation up to trusted status.

Momentarily distracted by all the updates, Harry was distracted as his elf guide continued to lead him along and wasn't really paying attention until she let go of his hand. At the back of the 'dining room' was another staircase, a wooden spiral staircase that was rather uncomfortably tight for UNO to contort his body up. Blinky waited patiently for him however, hiding her giggle behind her hands at his difficulty. Harry couldn't help but smile himself, amused at his own predicament.

Finally managing to make it to the top of the staircase, UNO crouched in front of a small door. Unlike the kitchens, this area was clearly designed purely for house elves because there was really no way a full grown human was fitting through it. Fortunately, Harry wasn't quite a full grown human, so when Blinky opened the door and led him in, he managed to squeeze himself through (though got stuck trying to get his shoulders through at first, he succeeded after some wiggling).

Rather than bother trying to stand and having to stoop, UNO remained on his knees inside the entryway and took a look around. His entrance had garnered the attention of a few passing elves and they looked at him with a mixture of wariness and amusement. One had a particularly queer look on its face as if it thought Harry was some kind of strange apparition.

"Uh, hi." UNO gave a slight wave, which seemed to be enough to jolt the frozen elves into resuming whatever it was they were doing before he struggled through their front door like a strange caterpillar.

It was rather odd actually, how the elves here didn't flock to him like they did in the kitchens. In fact they seemed almost to ignore that he was there, aside from keeping their distance. Most strange.

"Here be the elf homes." Blinky whispered to him, taking his fingers in her grip once more and tugging him along. The roof was pretty low and so UNO knee-shuffled along after the young elf, looking around curiously as he did so. This place had a low ceiling but peaked in the middle, so they must be in what would be the attic space of the castle. The walls only went up to three feet tall, so the lowest point was there, where the wall met the roof. All along the walls were small windows that looked out onto the grounds.

Once past the entrance hall there was a long dining room. Several elves were sitting and eating, many in various states of relaxation and attentiveness. Some were even knitting or doing other types of needlework and a few were enjoying other productive hobbies. None of the elves approached him, though he felt their eyes on him as he went past. Harry did attempt to be polite and greet those that met his eyes, but left them to their privacy otherwise.

Noticing as they moved out of the dining hall that he had a small collection of elves following behind him at a distance UNO glanced back at them curiously. Since they didn't seem to want to approach him still, Harry continued on – not that he had much choice with Blinky still pulling him along by the hand. She showed him a few rooms that branched off of the hallway the dining room led from. Most were rooms dedicated to certain tasks, such as a room filled with bolts of cloth and a few elves stitching inside, but some rooms were empty.

Past those rooms the hallway opened up into a long dormitory, a room filled with beds and Blinky raised a finger to her lips to indicate silence as she led him in. There were a few bunk beds and a few double beds interspersed, but it looked like all the elves shared one long dormitory. It made sense that the elves had their own dorm – they lived here too after all, but he had never really imagined it. Harry supposed that after meeting Kreacher and Dobby, he had assumed that all elves lived in hidden spaces like basements and cupboards, sleeping on a few sheets. He should have known that here at Hogwarts they'd get their own proper beds and the like.

There were some elves sleeping or relaxing in their beds so Harry kept quiet as not to wake them as they trotted past. It was a bit strange to him, to have the room filled with so many beds and such little privacy – not to mention that they had to walk down the center of the room to get to whatever was behind it, which could disturb the sleeping elves. Harry wondered what the logic was behind the design of the elf quarters, unaware that he would soon be finding out (and feel stupid about not realising sooner).

At the end of the bedroom was another door which Blinky slightly hesitated before opening. Yet another hallway opened up before them, with doors on either side and an open doorway at the end. Smaller than the series of rooms before it, Blinky nonetheless showed him inside each one. UNO frowned in confusion as he looked in each room. There was a small kitchen in one, despite the fact that all the food came up from the main kitchen – for elves and humans alike. There was also a laundry room which was strange because Harry knew for a fact that there was laundry room out past the kitchens – Blinky had shown it to him. That meant that the laundry room up here was for elf-use only, though it surprised him to see that they had their own dedicated room when they had access to the main one.

The matter was swiftly cleared up though, as Blinky stepped through the archway at the end of this final hallway. The room opened up into one big space and UNO looked around in shock. Small chairs were in one corner, small beds in another – smaller even, than the ones he'd passed before. Finger paintings of flowers and the like were stuck up on one wall.

This was the nursery.

Harry hadn't even realised that throughout his entire tour of the elf quarters he'd never seen a baby house elf.

"The younger elveses stay here." Binky told him as they entered – the room furthest from the door to the castle proper, Harry noticed. "Here they learns the elfs magic, and are taught their lessons." Just because elves were usually only seen cooking or cleaning didn't mean that was all they did – they still had to be able to read, and often handled money and other tasks that required some education. Honestly Harry was just taken aback by the sight of the young elves – creatures already so small as house elves seemed inordinately fragile even younger and smaller than he was familiar with.

"Elveses that aren't this high -" The elf raised a hand to about a foot and a half high "-aren't to leave the elf-spaces until they are." Binky told him. "It is very rare for a non-elf to see a young one at all." Harry could definitely accept that, given how many huge eyes in tiny bodies were staring at him in outright awe right now. Along with several pairs of eyes in very wrinkled faces that watched him with more caution than curiosity – clearly it wasn't just the young who were kept away but the old too. Harry imagined that they must have a communal raising, where the young were tended to by those too old to work. It looked like he'd just interrupted class or something.

"Wow." Was all he managed to say, before he coughed a little at his own speechlessness. "Uh, its nice to meet you all?"

If anything those huge eyes somehow got even bigger and Harry felt a little awkward with them all staring at him in silence. Blinky giggled behind her hands, and he heard a few sputtered noises behind him too – his entourage seemed to find this somewhat amusing as well if he were to guess.

Cheeks filling with warmth, Harry inwardly cursed how true-to-life the game was as he felt heat burn up the back of his neck and ears. Diplomacy never had been his strong suite, and who knew how the heck to interact with a bunch of baby elves and their elderly caretakers? He bet even Hermione didn't have a book to cover this one.

Thankfully none of the elves seemed upset by his incompetence, though he could do without them being so amused by it. Taking a deep breath to try and recenter himself, UNO eased back so he was sitting on his legs. "I'm UNO." He introduced himself, offering a smile. "Its nice to meet you all." Manners were always a useful thing to fall back on when you didn't know what else to say, Harry found.

"Pleased to be meeting you." One of the elderly elves spoke up, holding a nobbly cane in one withered hand. "Welcome. I be the Elder Nelly." The old elf barely got the words out before the collection of elf children offered out their names as well, drowning out all other sound with their high voices. Harry chuckled a little, shaking a few hands of the bolder elf children who reached to shake his.

"Its nice to meet all of you too." UNO offered with a grin. Children were alike no matter if they were elf or human it seemed – they were all bold and precocious when they wanted to be.

Some of the older elves behind him seemed to be amused while others seemed shocked and dismayed – this was hardly appropriate house elf behaviour after all, but Harry didn't mind in the slightest.

"Well, Blinky was just showing me around. You have a nice place up here – I didn't mean to become such a distraction for you all though." He should have expected it really, but he hadn't thought his presence to be so disruptive. The elf elder just waved his concern away, though seemed pleased by it. "Young ones don't meet wizards until much older." The elf croaked. "Tis good, to see one. Even older elves often not speak with wizards." Usually elves weren't seen at all, unless you went looking for them. Harry knew from going to the kitchens how elves rarely had the opportunity to actually interact with humans. Normally they would work without being seen or heard.

"I'm glad to be helpful for you then." After all, his being here could be an opportunity for some, if they wanted to interact with a human. "I don't get much opportunity to speak to elves either." Harry paused, taking a bit of a breath. He used to, after all. He used to speak to Dobby sometimes, and then there was Kreacher too. Thinking about them just reminded him of Dobby's death, and Sirius'.

Seeming to sense his feelings, or just read the expression on his face, the elves were quiet a moment. A small hand reached out and rest on one of his, and UNO looked up to see humongous eyes in a small face looking up at him. "Wizard UNO is sad?" The little creature almost whispered. Harry attempted to offer a reassuring smile, though wasn't very confident in his success. "I used to have a friend who was a house elf." He admitted, his voice soft. "He was a very good friend to me, but he died saving my life in the war."

That seemed to shock the elves and there was a low murmur that broke out around him. Whether it be because a house elf died, or because Harry had held the elf in such regard, he didn't know. Eventually the elder spoke up, cutting off the noise of the others. "Perhaps wizard UNO would speak of his elf-friend, and wes could tell stories of him." "Like Belfy the explorer!" One young voice piped up. "And Nebby the loyal!" It looked like elves with notable achievements lived on in stories passed down. It left him a little choked up that Dobby might live on this way. He knew how his friend had been outcast by the elves in the real world, never really receiving from them the support and pride he was due.

So Harry told the elves about Dobby, about how the house elf had belonged to a bad family and how he had been a little strange, but had done what was right, instead of what was easy. He knew some elves struggled with the idea – Dobby had betrayed his family, something that was Very Bad, but he'd freed many elves because of his actions – because through him, Harry had been able to live and defeat the dark lord, rescuing many and offering them better lives.

Dobby might have been an outcast to the house elves, but he had been their savior, for many. His story deserved to live on and hopefully offer future elves bravery, if they ever found themselves having to do something bad, to do something so very good.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After meeting with the elves Harry was pretty worn out, emotionally. He'd spent a good chunk of time exploring with Blinky and then in the elf-quarters. He didn't regret it, but it had taken a lot out of him. He'd left their den with a promise to come back, and an offer for them to talk to him if they ever wanted. He wasn't sure if they'd take him up on it, but by the time he'd left he'd gotten a pretty high reputation with the house elf faction, according to his log.

Speaking of his log, now that he wasn't in the middle of something he could actually take a look at the announcements he'd missed. It looked like with his new reputation level he was now able to call Blinky for help if he needed, as well as make requests for specific things from the kitchens. He could also get the elves to make repairs to his clothing – more durable than just using repair charms himself – but only up to gear of a certain level, and excluding armour or weapons and the like.

He'd also gotten an achievement for uncovering 25% and 50% of Hogwarts' map, which had given him a fair amount of exp and Hogwarts rep bringing him up to 'friendly' with the faction. At friendly, Hogwarts' stairs would be a little more favorable to him and ghosts and portraits would be more helpful. There were also a few more hidden passageways that would let him use them, if he could find them, which boggled him a bit. Apparently he hadn't discovered all of them – some only opened up to you if the castle liked you.

Taking a look at his map, Harry was pleased to see that his exploration with Blinky had brought the map up to 68% complete. That still left a lot missing, but Harry was determined to uncover it and still had all of the grounds yet to do. The experience he'd gained from exploring and getting the achievements (as well as a few hidden quests like 'find all the supply closests') had brought his level up to 15.

If Harry had one criticism to the game it was how distracting all the updates could be while he played. Keeping track of his surroundings meant he often had to ignore text coming up about quests or achievements and other things. Not a huge issue – he could look it up when he had a spare moment, but because the game didn't 'pause' for such things, it could be a bit irksome trying to split his attention when things happened. Especially since bonuses like rep gains could give him other boons, which would be interesting and useful to know but took time to read through – not good in a pinch. He'd just have to let Hermione know about it – perhaps if there was a way of seeing what the next level would give them without having to actually reach that level, it'd give players the chance to find out when they were building up to it. Not everyone would use it, but he knew he would look things up if he knew he was close to reaching the next tier.

Feeling pretty good about his achievements, but a bit guilty that he'd wandered off for so long doing his own thing when he was technically supposed to be helping out the other players if they needed it (hard to do when he was nowhere near them) Harry returned to the great hall.

He was pleased to see mixed-house students dotted along the tables, the hall bustling with players. Some were actually eating, but it seemed that many were using the space to chat with other players. It made sense – it was an easily accessible place for people to meet, and unlike in the real world students had friends all across the houses rather than being isolated into the house they'd been placed in. Many of the players were adults or non-magicals who were here to play with their friends and weren't about to let what house they were in separate them.

While he knew that Hogwarts in the real world was working on improving relations between houses it was still good to see how little the divide mattered here. There were clusters of players wearing their differing house colours, players of different ages and backgrounds. It was interesting the diversity of it now that there were so many players to compare. Some had decided on avatars that looked like themselves, or had subtle differences, while others looked much different. He recognised a few people, but most he didn't – most he wouldn't, given the strange coloured eyes and odd hairstyles some were sporting – clearly the avatar creation screen was popular. There were even some family units he saw, courtesy of the DoMI introducing non magical families to the game, as well as the parents of existing students. There were a few reunions going on already and it was nice to see the tentative curiosity in some of those family's faces.

Harry worried that people's appearances might be misrepresenting the magical world at first – people didn't look that strange after all, they were usually indistinguishable from muggles aside from their fashion sense. Hair and eyes could be changed in the magical world but people usually didn't bother – the more it differed from natural the more work had to go into maintaining it – and often could be destroyed with a stray finite. In game though people could give themselves crazy hair or other unique traits and it would be 'natural', even if it wasn't quite true-to life. Then again he wasn't all that exposed to things like appearance altering charms except for ones to hide him completely, so what did he know if people did change their hair or other features when they went out? And if you thought about it, such things were just expressions of fashion – which they all knew were dubious within the magical world. Just thinking of Neville's gran's hat still freaked him out a bit.

As he wandered along, it didn't take too long before he encountered someone he did recognise.

The girl wandering past him was clearly Luna, though she'd apparently used the avatar creation menu to make her default hair into a rather peculiar style. White-blond hair framed her face in a massive background of frizzy curls. She also, somehow, had managed to acquire the rank of 'Hogwarts fifth year student' to which Harry had no idea how she'd done, since the game had only been running a short time and nobody he'd seen was higher than a third year. Most were seconds years like himself, so perhaps she'd found some kind of loophole like he had with the basilisk chamber.

Either way he wasn't about to ask, because he was more surprised at the name she'd picked to be identified by.

"Luna?" Even knowing it was her he couldn't help but blurt her name out, as if just to double check.

"Why yes, that's me. Although I go by Lunacy on here, you see?" She very helpfully pointed to the space above her head where her nametag floated to ID her.

"Er, right. Sorry about that. Its just, Lunacy? Really?" Nobody liked the reminder of being bullied, though Luna always had been an odd one he supposed.

"So it would seem, UNO." Her reply was lighthearted, but she put some emphasis on his name. Of course Luna would just magically be able to identify him, Harry sighed.

"How are you doing? Enjoying the game so far?" He asked, if only to do his duty as a sort-of staff member on MWO.

"Oh I'm enjoying it very much thank you. It is very strange to be wearing my school uniform again though." She told him, despite wearing what looked to be a rather heavily-modified school uniform, even if it did still look like one, unlike Harry who was wearing his snakeskin coat and boots and barely looked like it was a uniform at all rather than a mercenary's getup. Before Harry could reply though, Luna was carrying on.

"Did you know they have thestrals in here? I went to see them, they're just as friendly as in the real Hogwarts. Thankfully there's a quest to acquire glasses to see them with, not that we need them of course." The younger girl gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders at the casual reference to having seen people die. Not that Harry could talk since they both seemed to be trying to move through their experiences, without completely blocking them out as many others were. He had to respect her for that – embracing those hard times and becoming stronger from them, rather than trying to pretend none of it ever happened. Luna had always been far stronger than most gave her credit for, even Harry on occasion, to his shame.

"Hey Lunaaaacy." Harry smiled sheepishly, wondering if he'd manage to say her in-game name instead of her real one without flubbing it. "Don't worry Harry, you call me Luna if you want." She interjected, a serene smile on her face as if it didn't bother her. Harry wished he was good enough to see past the absent-minded veneer more often but had to just take her word for it this time.

"Alright then Luna, is it alright if I add you to my friend's list? Maybe we can hang out or adventure later on. I'm still in the early stages of the game yet but maybe when I'm a bit more advanced then we can party up?" The game was a multiplayer after all, and so far he'd been going at it pretty much solo. It was early days yet though, but while he was having fun on his own he was sure there would be things later on that would be much more fun with more people.

"That sounds great UNO." She assured him, and accepted his friend request when he sent it. "I'm off to the Atrium now – I want to have a look at the quest board there."

Grinning at her, UNO stepped out of her way so she could go past him. "I'm looking forward to taking a look myself, but unfortunately I'm not able to just yet." It gave him a good excuse to get a jump on the beginner quests he'd not been doing though, since they'd eventually allow him to go exploring outside of Hogwarts. Although he was eager to explore it now, he'd be coming back here for some time so it wasn't like he had to get it done right away. It was unlikely he'd be able to explore it all so early anyway, given how much still had yet to be discovered he was sure it'd take more time and probably more skills than he had. While he'd enjoyed it and was still tempted to explore the grounds, it was probably best if he refocused onto the game proper for now and progressed through it.

In typical Luna fashion, the young woman wandered away from him then with nary a goodbye. Used to her eccentricities Harry merely smiled at her back and left to go and follow the main questline for a bit, unlocking a few more basic spells and the like. Since his rank was only a second year, he couldn't start the class quests for any of the electives so he was stuck doing potions lessons and astronomy since those were ones he was a bit behind in.

Most of charms and transfiguration he could skip because of his existing knowledge, but it turned out that he'd missed quite a bit of astronomy and potions. Both were understandable – with Snape giving very little guidance, getting some of the basics in the class was a first for him, and astronomy he'd tended to doze off in every now and then. After all, having eleven year olds staying up that late was hardly the brightest idea. Especially since much of the basics of astronomy were simple identification of the stars. It could easily be done via illusions for the most part and have the lesson moved to a more suitable hour, with perhaps occasional night classes, particularly in winter when it got darker sooner, perhaps within the great hall or somewhere that was protected from the cold.

Either way he was sure that astronomy would be addressed at Hogwarts, just as they had made improvements to so many other classes and the way that things were run.

In the meanwhile Harry just enjoyed being back in Hogwarts, but without actually being there himself. Seeing this place as a game, even if it was a reflection of reality, helped him immensely, as did having an avatar to use rather than being himself. It was like having a second chance to go to Hogwarts, even if it was a bit different in terms of the actual learning experience. There was nobody whispering about him in the halls or staring at him like he was some kind of zoo exhibit and that alone was a huge improvement over reality. In the real world Harry was still a spectacle, even if the populace had been brow-beaten into behaving appropriately and not as they had been when Fudge and Dumbledore were in charge. Neither had done anything to stop people from doing or saying whatever they wanted – Fudge in his newspapers and Dumbledore at the school.

But none of that was an issue here – nobody but a few knew who he was. He got a few odd looks because of his snakeskin coat but that was it. It was refreshingly free to not have the burden of his name weighing him down. Here he could build his own reputation as UNO, something that he brought upon himself and truly deserved.

Feeling lighter than he had in ages, Harry walked through the hallways of Hogwarts to his next class. 

Notes:

Sorry for yet another delay guys, I know I'm really unreliable with this _" I was hoping to get a beta before I posted any more chapters (I've had this one sitting pretty on my pc for a little while now) but no dice, so I do apologise for any typos or flubs in the text - especially for the really long sentences with lots of commas that I can never seem to stop making. Feel free to complain at me and point out any mistakes I've made so I can fix them. Sorry!

FYI for those of you who are interested, Luna's hairstyle is a bit like Christina Aguilara's in the Lady Marmalade music video


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

There was something comforting about settling into the routine of classes at Hogwarts. Sure, it was different to real life – lessons were much longer in reality than they were here, but then when he thought back to those lessons he only remembered it in snippets anyway. Still, he hadn't thought that it would be so easy to settle into it, especially considering how his real Hogwarts days had hardly been so smooth.

Regardless, Harry enjoyed the mediocrity of attending classes and gaining spells. His skill level in each field went up through practice and attending the lessons until he was no longer quite so disproportionately unskilled for his level. All his exploration and grinding the basilisk had left his level quite high compared to practically everyone else, but it did look odd when his skill in the different areas of magic was so low. He was still lower than most other players who'd been on as long as he had though.

He'd passed Luna twice in the halls, exchanging greetings but little small talk as they both got on with the game. He still hadn't made it to the part of the scripted quests that would allow him to explore beyond Hogwarts, but he'd only seen a few other players who looked like they'd left and come back already so he doubted that he was too far behind at this stage.

Even so, he was eager to go off and explore beyond the bounds of Hogwarts, much though he did enjoy it. The school was inherently a beginners area, with classes to attend and a structured feel to the place – necessary, as it would give all the players an established knowledge base and the like, but still, Harry itched to have a little freedom – all of these classes were beginning to get to him. It didn't help that Hermione was on his case about his side-questing too, even if she was only teasing.

"Oh Harry." Hermione sighed, but there was a grin on her lips. "Everyone else is off exploring, doing quests and increasing their skills. Some have even made it to the shopping district by now. But here you are, still a second year student, off killing basilisks and befriending the elves. Could you deviate any further from the norm?" It was a good thing she had more than just Harry here as a front-runner to lead the way and make sure everything went smoothly. Her friend was good at finding obscure things, but that was hardly going to help the regular players with their adventures. Then again, there was a reason that they were friends and it wasn't because Harry or Hermione herself could be considered 'regular'. She hardly could have expected him to stick to the common path. Even when Harry tried to be normal he failed, and he didn't bother trying so much anymore. It was nice to see him acting like himself in truth, and his odd wanderings did expose bugs for them to fix.

"Hey, I'm catching up." He defended himself, grinning widely. He was a little bit behind still but had gotten fairly caught up now, only lagging behind by a bit in skill and progression for the most part – something which he felt was suitably supplemented by his basilisk-killing levelling.

Thankfully it wasn't too much longer before he finally did make it to the point where he could travel outside the castle, albeit only to Hogsmeade and the Atrium. The freedom came with his promotion to becoming a third year Hogwarts student as well as brought him to the next level too, at fifteen. He'd yet to see anyone bar NPCs or admin who had a higher level than him, and he was on par with many others in rank as a third year student.

Harry was eager to get away from the castle and take a look around elsewhere before he'd have to log out and start his day in the real world. With that in mind he followed the questline that led him to a hallway near the entrance hall which appeared to have been converted from a series of what were normally unused rooms but were now host to a series of large fireplaces. The quest walked him through how to use floo travel, which was useful because there was just a little more to it than 'throw powder in fire and walk in shouting destination'. Thankfully not a whole lot, but enough that the little walkthrough meant that he didn't come shooting or tripping out of the other side like it had done in the real world. Hopefully that was one skill that would carry over to the real world for him.

-

The Atrium in MWO looked a little different to the real world, though not significantly so. For one it was populated by a pretty large number of people in modified Hogwarts garb, with a few wearing completely non-school clothing but not many. For another, it looked a bit more 'finished' than the existing Atrium did, in his opinion. It was probably more to do with how everyone seemed more at ease here, whereas from what he'd seen of the Atrium when he'd visited in person, people still felt a bit displaced and it had shown. The shops hadn't seemed to fit quite right and everyone had been holding out hope of returning to Diagon Alley and the way things were, something that they hadn't allowed to happen due to safety concerns. People had been treating the place like it was temporary. It was possible that things had improved since Harry had been there last, since he didn't get out much, but it could also be another of Hermione's wishful thinking exercises, where they displayed the magical world in a way that they would like it to look, with the intention to tweak the real world to fit it, rather than the other way around.

In Harry's opinion the Atrium was far better than Diagon Alley had been though – while the old alley had been quaint with its cobblestone streets, it had been open to the elements - which in Britain meant shopping in the rain an awful lot. While water-repellant charms were a thing, it was nice not to have to worry about wind and rain troubling shoppers. It also meant that people could hang out comfortably, particularly in the main foyer where that ridiculous statue had once been. In its place were now a number of benches and the like, along with stalls for various food items, making it a social area to relax and grab a light lunch or ice cream.

Not only that but the Atrium was beautifully tiled with dark marble, particularly the dark green that really gave the place a distinctive look. It gave a very different impression to the old-style cobblestones of the alley – it certainly came across as less medieval.

Despite the fairly busy atmosphere to the place, there wasn't actually much bustle. Most people seemed to be sitting along the edges of the room or in the central area, with the exception of a noticeboard not far from the fireplaces. Wandering over proved it to be a quest board, with a wide variety of quests on it. One of them looked distinctly like it came from Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, given the awful orange paper it was on, but he was too far back to look at the details of it. The notice board was pretty popular, though that'd make sense if it was the primary quest hub of the area, unlike at Hogwarts where many quests were given for classes and the like just for being in the castle. There were hidden optional quests, as he'd discovered with the chamber of secrets, but he did wonder about other optional quests at the school and where they might be found.

Not that it mattered for now – he'd figure it out later. For now he browsed the Atrium, taking a look around. He actually had a fair bit of money which he'd acquired from farming the basilisk, way more than he probably should at this stage of the game so he resisted the urge to fritter it away since he didn't know how easy it would be to earn money without using bugs like that. He hadn't started with any gold at the beginning of the game, not that there was any opportunity to spend any money then either. Besides, unless you did sidequests for students (NPCs or other players) or found money in the castle or from mobs, it wasn't like you'd get money from Hogwarts' quests – Hogwarts in the real world certainly didn't pay you money to do tasks! So far he'd earned skills and stats instead from the school, along with spells and other such things, and a few of the quests had given him items in their field, but no money or anything special. To be fair though, he'd not done too many sidequests aside from his wanderings, most of the quests he'd done were class quests for his lessons.

He only had another hour or so before he'd be forced out of the game to wake up though and he intended to make the most of it by familiarizing himself with the Atrium. There were lots of introductory quests available on the noticeboard, so he took one that would send him on a tour of the shopping area, under the excuse of delivering the shopkeepers dinner from the relocated Leaky Cauldron. The quest would give him a small amount of coins for doing it as well as teach him how to use the shops and what each shop was. He was one of many who seemed to be doing this simple quest at this stage, though he noticed that the quest didn't take anyone to George's shop – apparently it had its own introductory quest, probably on account of whatever George had done to his avatar to make him a playable character as well as a shop-owner, which would normally be an NPC.

Even from the central area, the Weasley's shop was visible all the way down the lane – it was an obnoxious shade of orange to be sure. He couldn't help but grin at seeing it though, as he made his way down towards it.

One thing that couldn't be found in the Atrium proper was Gringotts. The goblin nation had been extremely displeased by the recent wizard war and the destruction Gringotts London. The fact that Diagon had been abandoned also meant that they'd been required to move also, and weren't too pleased to be forced to do so. Fortunately they'd been placated by the promise that they could take many of the underground parts of the old ministry building, beneath the Atrium, to expand their tunnel system out to the new magical hub. It wasn't ideal, but while the situation wasn't perfect it still appealed to the goblins vindictiveness, for they were taking what had once been prime pieces of wizarding history – the court rooms, the department of mysteries and many other key areas. It had all been cleared of anything remaining before being given to the goblins of course, bar the magicks that couldn't be moved. Still, it was a significant loss to many, despite what some felt was redundancy because the ministry itself had been relocated anyway.

Much had changed in a short time really, as they tried to prevent themselves from being discovered by non-magical people. While some witches and wizards had wished to pretend the war never happened and go back to the way things were as they had done last time, it hadn't been allowed to happen. Instead the safety and secrecy of the magical world had been prioritised, as it should be. It was for that reason that the old Alley was abandoned and they shopped here instead, in a place entirely underground.

They'd even changed the entrance – because magic or not, a telephone box just wouldn't cut it as a secret entrance, nor would the loos. Honestly, it just didn't make sense for there to be queues of people going into these things and nobody coming out. Instead there was a discreet non-magical entrance to the Atrium accessible via a leisure centre that would act as a suitable cover as to why people would enter and then not leave for hours. It also meant that non-magical families could spend some time having fun of their own if they were uncomfortable going to magical places, and instead wanted to go swimming or do any of the other activities available. Not only that but those who entered the magical world first passed through a changing room area, with lockers to place electronics that may otherwise get fried by the ambient magic.

Personally Harry liked the changes, but even he had to admit that they were very different and if it was that jarring for him he could imagine it being much more so for others.

They would all just have to adjust though, but he was of the opinion that change didn't have to be, and often wasn't, a bad thing. It was often about taking the opportunities it provided and making the best of things, rather than lamenting what was lost. Then again he'd experienced so much change and such extreme twists in his life that he felt pretty able to cope with strangeness and changes. He rather felt like he was pretty skilled with handling getting his worldview tipped on its head.

So he really shouldn't have been surprised when he stepped into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and found two identical Weasleys inside. Despite it being supposedly impossible to play as more than one avatar, and Fred definitely being dead (he'd not come back as a ghost so far as anyone had seen either) there were two twins stood in the shop.

He'd met 'Gred' earlier in Hogwarts and he still had no idea how George had gotten into the introductory area, considering he would have had to complete it to gain his rank of shop owner. Nevermind how it worked for him to be a player as well as a shop owner for a busy high street shop – Hermione must have worked something out with others in a similar situation but doubted it was whatever George had done -more along the lines of placing NPCs in the shops instead.

All of it was moot though, mere technicalities and not what his mind was hung up on to be honest. No, that would be the identical twin stood next to Gred in the shop, because it wasn't, to his eyes, an NPC nor was it George somehow using a mirrorer avatar. They moved independently of each other, stepping out from behind the counter and moving towards him. Harry felt a little faint.

"Welcome to the store Harrikins!" Gred and Forge greeted him with twinspeak, tangling their words together just like they'd always done in real life, each taking a word of block of words to say each. Unsurprisingly UNO just stared back at them, gobsmacked. His mouth was open, even. Perhaps he wasn't as go with the flow as he'd thought he was.

"George? Whu-uh, how?" He poked both forms and they 'felt' as real as anything else in the game, which was to say pretty real.

"Trade secret Harry." Gred answered secretively, going so far as to lean into his space and say it from behind his hand like the fact that it was a trade secret was, in itself, a secret. Harry supposed it must be though – Hermione had been certain that players could only have one avatar in the game, and Harry had to wonder how George was doing it – it made him worry about split personality or something.

"Uhhh, right. You guys could do with a warning on the door, you know? I think you're going to give a few people a hell of a heart attack. And you'd better not let your family walk in on this either." UNO warned them, recovering from his shock a bit. Prank though it maybe, or perhaps more, but it wouldn't be right for any Weasley to walk into the shop and into those two without warning. He knew for a fact that Mr Weasley wanted to play, though he'd not seen him yet so far as he knew. (Truly, the anonymity was a drawback when it came to looking out for friends).

Both twins seemed to take his words seriously though, or at least seemed to give it some thought. He knew it would go against his? their? prankster nature but some things were more important than that.

"Alright, we'll-"

"Consider talking to-"

"The rest of the family-"

"Before-"

"They get here."

The pair seemed slightly begrudging, but it was the most he could ask for. Hopefully his efforts would save them all some heartache. Issue resolved, Harry turned his attention to the shop.

"What took you so long getting out here anyway? And where did you get those duds?" The twins asked, circling around him like sharks.

UNO looked a little sheepish and shrugged, causing the green snakeskin coat to ripple around his legs. "I went down into Slytherin's chamber." He admitted casually. "Turns out there was a bit of a bug." He was lucky that Hermione had let him keep his loot from that, not to mention the levels up and such that he'd gotten from farming the snake. It wasn't gamebreaking he supposed, so that may have been why.

The twins had gone a little pale at the mention of that place though – while they'd never been down themselves to his knowledge, they must have some idea of what was down there, especially after living with Ginny in the aftermath. Personally he'd found it a little hard himself at times, seeing the Basilisk lunging at him and making him feel all of twelve years old again and alone against a monster. He hadn't let that hold him back though, because he wasn't that little boy anymore, and he'd faced down worse than a giant snake. It just made him feel stronger now, to defeat it like he hadn't been able to as a boy. It had even been fun after the first few times - a challenge, a test to his skill rather than a reminder of an old nightmare.

Humming curiously, Forge leaned forwards and tapped at his snakeskin coat, bringing up a merchant's menu.

"We can valuate items." Gred explained. "Because not all trade is done with money, it is possible to trade for materials too, especially at places where you want something created – like if you provided snakeskin to a clothier, they would charge you less to create this coat than if you bought it outright." Not that a coat like this could be bought, in all likelihood – basilisk skin was incredibly rare. "The thing is though, not all merchants trade, and those that do won't want just anything. If you tried to trade bat wings to anyone but an apothecary, you'd not get much value for it." Which made sense of course, but he'd had no idea that magical people traded items at all, and admitted as much.

"Oh yeah," Forge spoke up this time. "Mum used to do it all the time – trading some of her preserves and things for our school supplies. Mum's food is legendary, you know?" Harry had to admit he'd never really given much thought to what Molly Weasley got up to whilst the children were all at Hogwarts, which he felt a bit silly for in retrospect.

"Huh." He'd definitely keep that in mind – UNO had collected a few bits and pieces during his exploration so far and he'd not really given much thought to what to do with it. "Well at least one of us has an idea of how things work here." Which was backwards considering Harry had been the one working part-time on this project since its inception. To be fair he'd not been handling the intricacies like these, but still.

It was a nice little quirk though he felt – rather than just dumping all collected loot into a generic shopkeeper, although that was an option, doing it this way encouraged some awareness of goods and would hopefully instill some sense to the players – himself included – who could make use of it. He vaguely recalled during the petrification incident how Professor Sprout had been growing Mandrakes – partly because they were subject to strict import/export laws and thus were worth a lot of money to sell – the bounty of the greenhouses subsidized the cost of the school somewhat.

Further musings were cut short because another player entered the store – or tried to since UNO was still blocking the doorway. He shuffled to the side apologetically and browsed the store a bit while the Weasley twins (and that was still hurting his head) greeted the customer.

Most of the shop interior looked the same as it was in the real world; the products on display were available in the real store although there were a few additions since Harry had last stopped by. He browsed a bit and really should have expected it when George - or Fred, or however it worked - snuck up behind him (wearing orange? How?) leaned into his space and talked loudly in his ear. It was enough to jolt him, thankfully to the side rather than face-first into the display he was looking at.

Glaring at the unrepentant redhead, UNO mocked being disgruntled at them for a moment before relaxing his stance and offering a small smile to them, as the clock in his UI flashed at him. "Hey guys, sorry to cut this short but my time's up." Harry apologised. He'd only come to the Atrium with an hour to spare unfortunately. He'd not expected to come across the twins after all, otherwise he may have saved it to tomorrow so that he'd be able to spend more time chatting.

"I'd best get back to Hogwarts so I can get the bonus experience boost for sleeping where I'm meant to." It wasn't a huge boost, the rested xp bonus for logging out in 'safe' places like Hogwarts or the inns, but it was still worth getting. Plus he'd heard rumors that the player avatar took a few minutes to fade away once the player logged out - and leaving his vulnerable avatar in front of a Weasley twin? He wasn't an idiot, thanks.

"Alright Harrikins." The twin said, gesturing him out of the shop. "We'll see you around – come back any time!" As he departed the second twin waved at him from behind the counter, and Harry was still shaking his head over the strangeness of that as he headed back to the floos to return to the castle.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

When Harry wakes up its with a brightly coloured post-it stuck to his forehead.

Peeling it off groggily it took him a moment to read Hermione's familiar cursive script asking him to meet at a nearby coffee shop instead of the DoMI this morning.

He wondered if this was about George – if she knew what he was getting up to in MWO or if it was something else entirely. It wasn't wholly unusual for Hermione to have breakfast with him at the small non magical coffee shop not far from her place – she claimed it was to keep in touch with her roots and keep up to date on modern developments, but in his opinion it had more to do with the mocha frappé that she liked from there.

People-watching over coffee was something the pair of them had started doing in the aftermath of the war in an attempt to adjust to living back with people after being almost completely alone during their months on the run. In the mornings it was non-magical coffee shops, and in the afternoons they moved to the magic side. They were pretty much the only excursions Harry had been on for a while, being a bit of a hermit, but Hermione had initiated the outings. Their free time had become far more restricted once the ministry got itself a bit more in order, but those first few weeks of just sitting and relaxing in public (even if under a glamour at times, in the magical side especially) had started something of a tradition.

It didn't stop his house elf from sending him along a packed breakfast of course – especially since it was highly likely that the post-it had been stuck to his head by his house elf Zoe at Hermione's request, so she would have read the note and been prepared. If she didn't pack them some snacks, they all knew that he and Hermione would just have danishes for breakfast, lunch and possibly dinner too if given half a chance.

Personally he found it very liberating to just sit out in the sun on a picnic bench or plastic chair, enjoying the brew in his hand and the freedom of being able to do so. Harry had never been able to have anything like this before. To him, it symbolised a lack of fear, peace. A bit silly in a way, because he wouldn't exactly call a bustling coffee shop, nor the forum outside of it, peaceful at all, such as it was: filled with kids and harassed parents, or impatient employees crossing the plaza.

Sometimes he did wonder how much sleep Hermione got though – at least when she was in-game he knew she was sleeping, but she always seemed to beat him to their meetings, she worked late and yet was always awake before him.

Harry was habitually an early riser after years of Quidditch practices in the mornings and making the most of the sunlight-hours during his stint hunting for horcruxes. Hermione was similar after her time with him in the tent- though in all honesty she'd never been one for lie-ins, not even back at Hogwarts. It was 'a waste of time that could be better spent' she'd once informed him primly. Informed Ron rather, when the redhead disparaged her weekend habits.

They were regular customers at their morning coffee shop even with their jobs keeping them busier now. Arriving when the place opened was an easy way to get acquainted with the staff, and it hadn't taken long for them to become familiar with the staff there.

Considering all that, it was no surprise to him that by the time he made it to the coffee shop Hermione was already seated outside with a steaming mug in front of the seat next to her and a frappé in her own hands. She gave a little wave as he came over, still a bit groggy. The weather was a bit iffy – standard British weather in all honesty, but the pair of them sat outside anyway. The coffee shop had a little outdoor wooden seating area that was mostly covered in case of rain, and they usually sat out here, even when the weather was a bit shit. Warming charms were a definite boon to the magical population, even if sitting out in the cold did get them some queer looks sometimes.

"Morning Harry." Hermione sounded far too chipper for this early but he raised his mug at her in greeting as he sat down with a sigh and took a sip.

"Morning Hermione. How's work?" It'd be odd for her to work while she was sleeping as well as awake, but Harry had no doubt she enjoyed being able to get the most use out of her sleeping hours, workaholic that she was. He wondered if that had been part of the design – after all, she had used a time turner as a student and was well known for trying to squeeze as much time out of her day as possible. Creating a way to be able to work while asleep was exactly the sort of thing she'd come up with.

"Its fine – there've only been a few bugs in MWO so far – so player experience has been good. We did have to smooth things in a few places – particularly the different player experiences in regards to the tutorial area. There was some discrepancies with players wanting to do it all together, families mostly, but getting split up because of their real life knowledge and experience – some went on the crunched version. No major problems thankfully, though I fear I've been investing too much of my time in the game lately and not enough in the department itself." Hermione frowned, but Harry just tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean? MWO is the flagship of the DoMI – where else would you be spending your time if not on the game." All their efforts had been gearing towards this, trying to integrate magical and non-magical worlds through the sharing of information.

"The department works on more than just MWO you know." Hermione pointed out. "It's not as attention-grabbing as the game, at the moment anyway, but eventually the hype will die down as people get used to it, and the rest of what we do will come to light. The whole point of the DoMI is magical integration after all – it's in the name. That's more than just the people, though I'm sure many people feel that's the case. It's the laws, the social structure, and the tech too – and not just for the game, but overall. We're working on blending magic with technology, so that when the future reveal happens, it's as smooth as we can make it."

That made sense, even if it was more of a long-sighted goal than he was used to. So far his own efforts had been all about the game, and changing how non-magicals were introduced to the magical world, rather than making both worlds fit together better.

"How's that going anyway? I've heard some uh, interesting stories when I've stopped by the office." Harry's question was bathed in humor, and Hermione flushed hard.

"Well, you know how it is. There are always hiccups with advancement."

"Uh huh. Right. That's what you're calling the microwave in the DoMI kitchen which somehow managed to beep at me sarcastically when I spilled tea on the counter. I've not even used the damn thing and it was practically laughing at me." It clearly had issues.

"Yes well, magic breeds sentience, you know that. We've hit a bit of a snag on that point honestly." The bushy haired brunette frowned in annoyance. "We've got a mobile phone that shrieks at us if it doesn't get used at least twice a day, a toaster that doesn't want to toast things but just likes to launch bread into the air and catch it again and a clock which keeps speeding up and slowing down inconsistently to confuse everyone. Merlin knows why, it's got one job and it's buggering it up I don't even know." She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed as Harry laughed at her. "At least MWO is going well, that's the main thing." She told him, a tired smile on her face. "Even if the rest is going a bit slower."

That was fine though honestly: everything else could afford to take a bit longer. MWO would buy them some time to make further progress, and honestly the game was really going well. So far it was flooded with players and even if people didn't continue on past the learning phase, it was a resource that was available for them if they wanted it. The important part was that the information available in the game was all laid out in a positive light – framing was key, even if it did mean they were manipulating things a bit, it was quite necessary in order to try and minimize the risk of aggression when they were Revealed.

Hermione knew from experience how harmful the lack of information and communication between non magical parents and the magical world had been. Parents were basically told to give up their child for 10 months of each year for seven years, unable to see them, barely able to even send letters – with owls that weren't readily available, and often had to be personally acquired. The parents were discouraged from participating in the magical world because of the risk of magical items being discovered in their homes – so newspapers were restricted and no accommodation made to those parents without alternative methods of communication. The separation was enforced even at Hogwarts, where many students had been petrified in second year and yet Hermione's parents had never been told about it, not been kept apprised of their daughter's condition at all.

Most parents also didn't get to see their children cast magic for seven years, by which point many families had already become estranged with the separation and lack of understanding between them. Many parents never got to see their children cast magic at all - as their children returned home of age only to find they could no longer fit in with the non-magical world at all, nor their family who lived in it. It was the hope of the new government that such things would no longer be the norm, if non-magical families could better understand and interact with their children, and the children weren't entirely cut off from their old world.

Not only that, but if they didn't have to put such huge resources into keeping the secret of magic, hopefully they'd be able to apply those resources to more important things, like ensuring that non-magical children were actually treated properly – and magical ones too for that matter. Truly, the old Ministry had been so oriented towards keeping the secret that over 50% of the institution was based on that function. To the point of magical accidents being investigated only so far as to cover them up – leaving many magical children who had used magic in self defence with parents or others obliviated of the magic, but the child still left in their care. Covering it up had always been the ministry's MO, and it had been going pretty overboard with doing so. Covering things up only really worked if you fixed the problem being hidden, otherwise it'd just keep getting revealed. Things were changing now though, with the refocus from keeping the secret and covering things up, to ensuring a safe world for everyone in it.

That was the hope anyway - but Hermione wasn't stupid, and Magical World Online wasn't their only plan. One of the first things the DoMI had done was brainstorm potential directions the Reveal could take them – from outright war, to total separation and so on. Plans were made, but they were all banking heavily on a successful reintegration of the worlds. It was early days into this new age, but Hermione was happy with the direction they were going in – sassy microwaves and all.

Unwilling to speak further about the department's less-than-successful endeavors Hermione instead turned the conversation back around.

"Why did you call yourself UNO anyway? Undesirable number one was hardly a title I thought you'd want to hold on to." Honestly the curiosity was gnawing at her, but Harry just shrugged, not really able to explain it himself.

He supposed he shouldn't want the association with such a dark time, and perhaps it was cruel of him to use the title, or at least the acronym of it. He'd always kind of found the whole thing a bit ridiculous really – when he'd first seen the wanted posters he'd found them funny, rather than terrifying or even worrisome. He'd even collected a few of the posters he'd found after the war, hung them up on the wall at home. It was peculiar he supposed, but for whatever reason he'd found them amusing. And honestly being truly undesirable sounded terribly appealing to him – he seemed to be the complete opposite otherwise, with the way people constantly stared at him. At least in MWO he knew that his notoriety came from Harry himself rather than from any ludicrous hype and expectations on the boy-who-lived or whatever else they might be calling him now.

His fame would always be something he was conscious of, after years of being stared at and whispered about, and judged. Even though things were a fair bit better now it didn't change that there would always be people looking at him, listening for his name and talking about him as if they had any right to judge him and his life. There was a reason he'd become pretty reclusive though – and even when he went out it was often only to the non-magical side or in a disguise.

His life certainly wasn't all bad though, he rather enjoyed the small pleasures he had now – even if he was limited in what he could do and where he could go without making a scene, he had his people-watching coffee breaks with Hermione, and he had MWO to work on and play in. Not to mention having some privacy and home to himself – that was one definite pleasure. Years of living in a dorm or at the Dursleys, then the tent with Hermione and Ron, it was definitely a nice change to have a place of his own to retreat to that wasn't a tiny bedroom or single bed. He lived with Zoe of course, but the majority of the house was his to run as he wanted. Another form of freedom, for him.

He was sure that playing Magical World Online would be an even greater form of freedom for him – he was enjoying it so far, even though he'd already been identified by some of his friends. He could be anonymous in game without feeling like he was actively hiding, without having to think about it or worry about it. He could just be himself, whoever that turned out to be.

"Are you going to join Magical World Online as a player soon?" He asked Hermione, interrupting the brief lull in conversation.

"I already have." She informed him. "Well, I've created my player avatar, but not actually started playing." It was still fresh from the launch and she wanted to be on as a GM instead of as a player, so that she was better able to work on any problems.

"Oh yeah, so you're using an anonymous avatar then?" Harry was a little surprised; he hadn't been sure if Hermione would have wanted to use the same face, so she was still identifiable as herself in case someone needed her help.

"Yes well I figured that since you've already started the trend, I should follow it. Besides, you wouldn't be very anonymous if you were stood next to me all the time." She pointed out. It was true of course – so far only a few quirky friends and the staff knew what he looked like in game but his cover would be blown pretty quick if he started playing with Hermione all the time. He felt a little bad for being the reason that his friend felt she couldn't play as herself in game, but she didn't seem too bothered by it.

"Honestly it's a relief really – I did wonder how I would be able to play the game without working all the time – how would I actually be able to enjoy it as a player; you know? But I think doing it this way, completely disconnecting my GM identity from my player avatar is the way to do it. Don't get me wrong, I'm liable to jump between them if I spot something needing fixing, but this way I can try and play unhindered." In a way Hermione's own instincts ruined things for her but she was going to try her best to just enjoy being a player.

"Of course that means I may not be on to play as much as the rest of you – I'll probably still be spending chunks of time working in game, not just during the work day." MWO was an international release so players would be on at all hours. It was targeted mostly to the UK though so while the majority of players would be on during the night UK time, that would be when Hermione was busiest being a GM, at least at first. It was possible that she'd manage to slip in a few hours of actual play time here or there though.

Besides she could easily argue that playing with Harry could count as work – considering he seemed to track down bugs and glitches with his wandering off. She still couldn't believe he'd farmed the basilisk and gotten all that gear so early in the game – he was so smug about it too, the tosser.

Shaking off such thoughts and taking a sip of her coffee Hermione idly watched the passers-by bustling on their way.

"You know, I never would have expected this to be the way the world turned out." Hermione admitted quietly, brown eyes locked onto a passing couple. "I'm pleased about it, don't get me wrong, but we came so close to losing, and so much started to go wrong before the end." Even now they hadn't recovered all the bodies of the muggleborns and half bloods who'd been taken by the ministry while the Dark Order were in charge. They probably never would.

Hermione couldn't help but feel guilty relief that it wasn't her job to go looking for those people. It was bad enough that it was the responsibility of her department to act as the liaison for the magical races and non-magical people, which involved some very unpleasant conversations at times. Fortunately, most of the hardest stuff was done by the Minister – having to explain where a chunk of non-magical people had disappeared to, or how parts of various towns and cities had basically been razed to the ground? Ouch. They did have to take some heat on that, despite it not being their fault – those responsible were all gone now but people often needed someone to blame.

"It was looking pretty bleak at the end there." Harry agreed lowly. They'd been so helpless, traipsing across Britain with only the radio for any real updates. Hearing the lists of the missing and the dead, holding out hope that their friends and loved ones survived yet almost wishing they weren't, if only because it meant they too would be experiencing the horror of living, waiting, listening to see which of their own friends were dead. It was worse when the only information was gleaned from the Prophet – reading that biased garbage had been bad enough before it was taken over by Death Eaters. Afterwards it had been downright depressing, yet still managed to spark Hermione's ire whenever they found a copy.

Things had changed a great deal since then, but even now there were still occasional reunions, where someone or some family had gone to ground and not heard of the Dark Lord's defeat. People who had literally isolated themselves from the rest of the world – often old families with warded properties, finally reaching out to the rest of the world because they'd run out of food, or just because they'd been out of reach for so long. The last one of those had been an old neutral pureblood household, along with many of the head of house's employees who had all fled there before the ministry fell. Harry couldn't imagine hiding that way though, being so out of touch as to not have a clue what was going on in the rest of the country. Don't get him wrong, he was reclusive now and had been on the run during the worst of the war, but even that much disconnection had been hard to cope with. At least now he wasn't completely cut off.

Harry understood why they had done it though, even if he didn't think he could have done the same.

Everything was different now though – where before things had been bleak, now they were hopeful. It was the spreading of hope which was important, particularly at the ministry, where much of the population would take their cues. If the ministry were trying to be hopeful, it would show the rest of the magical world that there was reason to hope. After the war it had been hard to twist things around because there had still been so much fear, people had started redirecting it to other things. What would happen to them now? What about the ministry, there's hardly anyone left. What about the muggles, they're closing in on us. The magical creatures, they turned against us, what do we do? So many fears and concerns, it could have all gone horribly wrong.

Thankfully there were enough of the 'good guys' left to guide people away from the hysteria that threatened. Uncertainty still remained, but having a strong figure to guide them had helped a lot.

Harry almost couldn't comprehend just how much things had changed in the last year. It could have gone so differently so many times, but he truly thought they'd managed to steer themselves to a truly promising future. It wasn't the future that many witches and wizards wanted – they were being dragged kicking and screaming at times, but the ones who fought hardest were usually the ones who had the most to lose – the purebloods, who had held seniority and power over the heads of all the rest for a long time. Harry couldn't say he was sorry to see the old systems go, considering how many times they'd been used to fuck him over.

Honestly though, he tried to keep out of a lot of that stuff. He had spent most of his teenage years in a war the rest of the world refused to admit was going on. He'd fought and struggled and lost enough, and now he was going to be selfish and focus on the good things, the small things, the freedoms he had now. And if it meant he never left the Department of Magical Integration? That was his choice and he knew that whatever he did, wherever he went, people would be glad to have him. In the meantime people like Hermione and so many others could continue pushing for the changes for equality – he'd support them, but refused to front-line those efforts. He'd been on the front lines long enough.

It was partly why he was so ecstatic about being able to play MWO with a custom avatar rather than as himself. He'd spent most of his life wishing to be 'just Harry' and realised eventually that whoever he'd thought that had been, it wasn't who he was now. He'd let himself go and do whatever he wanted as UNO, without the public or anyone else influencing that.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sometimes Harry felt that returning to the coffee shop they'd become regulars at was just another way to cling to nostalgia. So much had changed since they started coming out here, it had become something to hold on to, something stable. Now though, it just reminded him of when they began, when everything was in flux and they had held on to the normality of it with both hands.

It was here that Hermione had first broached the concept of MWO to him. She'd taken him to her office afterwards, explaining as she went just how she was going to change the world.

He remembered the first time she showed it to him, placing a strange device over his head and telling him to lay back and relax on the lounger against the wall.

"What do you think?" She'd asked.

The truth was he could barely comprehend it. Looking around him, seeing the people and the place, so like reality... To him it was potential, freedom, sanctuary and so much more. It was finding a port when he'd never expected to leave the choppy seas, only find breaks in the storm. It was a second chance wrapped up in a way he could actually enjoy it - not like the false chance he had in the real world, where his name and his fame took all true 'second chance' from him. Here, in this, he could truly have that, could really try - not to be someone else, but just to be him, whoever that was.

Hermione still waited for his answer but seemed to realize now that the question she'd asked was a far greater one than she'd thought. Harry was still looking around, glasses gone from his face and showing just how wide his eyes were without them to hide them. It wasn't shock and pleasure on his face like she'd expected, like she'd gotten from everyone else. It was awe, and a kind of relief she'd never seen before. She knew his life wasn't what he wanted it to be even if it was miles better than what he'd had before, but 'better' had seemed so good that she'd never considered that it might not be enough, not for Harry. It was fine for her - she'd gotten what she'd wanted; a chance to make things better, to fix things. She was working in the new ministry, and the fame wasn't something that bothered her as much as Harry - partly because she found it useful against those who would otherwise dismiss her, and for most they found her manner overbearing and intimidating anyway, and if that gave her some space to get some real work done then so much the better.

But Harry didn't want that - he'd never liked the fame, the staring, the awareness people had of his life. Pushing people to be respectful helped, but didn't change the fact that he was a public figure - public property by most people's opinion, and he always would be.

Already he used a glamour often when he went out into the magical world. He didn't when he came in to see her, but that was just a short trip from the public fireplace to her office, and even then he sometimes snuck about rather than be friendly at all, lest it encourage anyone to speak to him beyond 'good mornings' and 'how do you dos'. They didn't normally bother with disguises when they had coffee in the non-magical world but even then she'd see his shoulders tense up whenever anyone seemed to recognise him, even if they never approached. He just wanted to be left alone, to interact with people normally and that was a lot to ask of people who knew his history. It wasn't fair that it was a burden for him, but that was what it was.

But this, the potential in a world online, where anyone could be whoever they wanted, look like whatever they wanted, and not feel like they had to make an effort to hide - to put on a glamour, to not be seen too much with his own friends lest people realise what he was doing and make a fuss... In Hermione's creation he could hide without hiding, could be himself without everyone watching, waiting. It made him feel silly at times - like that stupid kettle in the DoMI kitchen that wouldn't boil if anyone was watching it. Silly, but not inaccurate - he had always felt like he couldn't be himself, not under scrutiny like that. Like a flower that would never uncurl and bloom because of the oppressive pressure from the world around it. Merlin he was comparing himself to a flower now, that was clearly indicative of how mucked up he was.

"Would you like to help me make it?" Hermione asked him, brown eyes serious as they watched him. If he did, this would be the first constructive thing he'd done really - not for the magical world, but for himself. Because he'd hidden himself away and drifted since the end of the war, helping out here and there but nothing solid, nothing committed. He felt like he was just floating away sometimes, resigning himself to isolation in his home, to visiting only a few friends now and then because he hated the scrutiny he was under. Bringing Harry here, showing him this, it was all for the purpose of trying to include him in the world he'd saved and started to let go of, to make him a part of it once more and maybe even enjoy himself rather than withdrawing back to his house.

"Of course I'll help." Because it was the least he could do, and because selfishly he wanted this gift now, wanted it sooner, and was more than happy to put his own effort into seeing that happen.

Even with his help it'd taken months more work to get the game truly into the shape it would eventually blossom into. Balancing the educational slant of the game without losing the element of fun was something that they'd struggled with, but Harry was ultimately pleased with the end result. The occasional bursts of cynicism and paranoia that flared up in regards to the information being divulged to the non-magical world had been another difficulty to overcome, and MWO had experienced many difficulties.

The fact that the game was meant to represent the magical world, but the magical world was still in recovery from the war made things a bit tough for design. They'd originally rebuilt Diagon Alley as one of the key magical hubs, only for the magical shopping district to relocate to the Atrium. For the most part all the shops that had been in Diagon had just straight up transferred to the Atrium, but not everything had. The loss of the Leaky Cauldron had been a shock.

It'd taken a while, unwilling to leave its place as the gatekeeper to the alley, but once it became clear that people just didn't want to return to the alley it eventually closed down entirely rather than move. Tom the owner said it was because he didn't want to remake something that was inherently faulty – whether he was referring to just the name, or the pub itself, no one dared to ask him.

The Leaky wasn't the only absence from the Atrium. Several other shops hadn't set up again after the war, either because the owners had perished or because they'd lost so much stock that they just hadn't been able to start over. The Ministry had tried to offer loans to businesses that needed help, but not all of them wanted to take the offer, still wary of trusting the government.

The DoMI had managed to encourage international suppliers to reconnect to the British economy in lieu of some of the now-missing shops. Because of that there were a few non-British owned stores in the Atrium, though the staffing was still mostly British. There had been some protest over that, but frankly they'd needed the boost, especially considering just how many people had been killed or fled the country, taking their businesses with them one way or the other.

A lot had changed since the end of the war. Not all of it was good, but that didn't necessarily make it bad either. Adapting to a new shopping district with its new shops was just one of many such things, and as far as Harry was concerned they had no right to complain about it - if they hadn't wanted things to change, they shouldn't have let Voldemort destroy everything while they cowered behind him and all the other children and resistance members who fought in their stead.

Alright, so he still held some bitterness towards the magical public, but as Hermione reminded him on occasion, holding on to such thoughts and feelings, while valid, was neither productive nor beneficial to him or others. This was a time to let go of fear and hatred and start fresh, something that he had taken to heart.

As far as either of them were concerned however, the new blood in Britain was a good thing – pulling down the isolationism that had previously been prevalent. Hermione had told him how much even Padma and Parvati had struggled in Hogwarts at times because of their ancestry – despite being more pure-blooded than nearly anyone else in the school, little though that should have mattered, they still experienced some problems with students because they 'didn't belong'. Now there was a bigger community of non-British families, even if it was still a minority, coupled with the loss of the Old Blood, it made a big difference.

Not that people were happy about all the loss of life of course, but silver linings and all. It was unfortunate that so many good families had been killed or fled along with the loss of the bad ones though, but that wasn't something they could do much about. Honestly they were lucky to be getting any international help at all given the poor relations they had; Dumbledore had done his best but with Fudge in charge there was only so much he'd been able to do on that front. The other countries hadn't aided them at all with Voldemort, but they were helping out now and Britain was grateful, because those other countries could just as easily invade and take over given how weak they were.

There was an awful lot going on under the purview of the Department of Magical Integration. Given the utter failure of international and inter-species relations previously, a whole lot of it had been shoved under their umbrella. Thank Heavens for time turners, and the fact that they hadn't needed to use them so much since the beginning of the Aftermath.

Speaking of silver linings though, Harry had heard through the grapevine that there had been some serious discussion in the immediate aftermath of the war to dissolve Slytherin house, if not all of the Houses. The suggestion had been vetoed obviously, but it had been a pretty close decision – there was a lot of resentment towards the Slytherin students given their actions leading up to the end, and really, their actions overall, pretty much ever. They didn't have a very good reputation and hadn't for a long time. It certainly didn't help that in the cruelest of ironies, the majority of student survivors were actually Slytherins, because their parents had been the ones killing all the other families, children and all. Plus it was exceptionally rare for anything less than a half-blood to go to that house, and even those were low in number, so the main targets of the war had all been from other houses. From what little he remembered of the non-pureblood Slytherins, the half bloods and muggleborns had been the first to flee Hogwarts and Britain as a whole when the Blood War started heating up again.

Selfishly, Harry hadn't wanted much at all to do with Hogwarts after the final battle there. He hadn't been able to stand it, and given how shattered they all were, nobody had really pushed. Instead he'd helped where he could elsewhere and drifted until Hermione had drafted him into the DoMI in what was left of the ministry. It was something he could work on with far less emotional attachment, something that was still valid and important, without taking him back to the school. In a way his avoidance was a futile attempt – there was always something that would remind him of the war, or of someone he'd lost or something he'd seen in the duration of it, but avoiding Hogwarts had just been something he'd started doing – he was just lucky that the bad memories didn't carry over into the Hogwarts in Magical World Online. It was possible that they wouldn't if he went back to the school itself now either - the place had been all tidied up and everything, but he wasn't going out of his way to return anyway. Hopefully, he'd left that chapter of his life behind now – even if he sort-of revisited it in the online world.

Speaking of which, Harry shifted in his seat and finished the rest of his tea. "We should probably get back to work." He told Hermione, ignoring the raised eyebrow she returned in his direction. Technically he was a consultant and didn't have regular working hours, and Hermione still used a time-turner to get things done whenever she needed to, so it was a rather irrelevant statement. Not to mention that MWO was the DoMI's priority right now and thus their working hours consisted of overnight while they played the game, for the most part. Despite all that Hermione sighed and set her, in Harry's opinion, ridiculous, drink down. "You're not wrong though really – especially if I want to be able to play Magical World Online tonight rather than spend it all on the clock- I've got to make up those hours." She bloody well didn't and he knew it, but really they couldn't spend all day sitting outside a coffee shop any more.

"Are you coming in or did you want to just meet up in-game later?" Hermione asked him, gathering up her belongings and finishing what was left of her own drink as well.

"I'll meet up with you later I think, I was planning on stopping by to see Neville today." Neither of them were aware if Neville had decided to join them on MWO or not - he'd been a bit unsure of the technology in truth and was pretty busy working with his gran at the ministry or at Hogwarts trying to repair the grounds after the battle while Professor Sprout focused on the greenhouses.

"It'll be nice if he does come on and join us. I still haven't found out what his title is. You should ask him, see if he has a preference about it." Hermione suggested with a playful grin. "If only so he doesn't actually get saddled with 'snakesterminator' if he doesn't want it."

"I'll be sure to find out for you." He promised.

"Oh, and swing by the office later this afternoon just in case we're shorthanded for moderators, we may need you just to log in for supervisory purposes – the top brass are calling me and a few others for a meeting so we may be shorthanded if it runs long." Almost a guaranteed thing really, and while they could use the time turners to get those hours back, they really were trying to cut down on their use. It wasn't good for staff to get in the habit of relying on them, especially for non-emergency situations.

"I can do that." He was technically on-call as a consultant, though that hardly mattered - it wasn't like he had other plans.

"Alright, I'd best get going then. See you later Harry." Hermione gave him a wave as she walked away, heading to a secluded corner to apparate away no doubt. Harry remained seated for a few moments longer before he followed her example. After all, it really wouldn't do to spend all day drinking tea, even if he did enjoy the illusion of not having a care in the world.

Neville did not in fact want to keep the 'snakesterminator' title, even if the event in question was a point of pride for him.

"Its a bit too notorious, if I wanted to go in anonymously." He pointed out to Harry over more tea.

"Plus it is a little bit inflammatory against Slytherins. Intentional or not, you know some people will take it that way." And despite it all Neville was actually a bit of a defender of the Slytherin house in recent months.

"I was in the castle with them Harry, not all of them were happy with the way things were. You didn't see them struggle like I did." They were in a delicate balance between toeing the line or being the ones being put under the torture curses themselves after all, especially the younger ones.

"I'll let Hermione know to scratch 'snakesterminator' off the list." Harry promised, idly wondering what they might come up with instead. "But you will join us yeah? It really doesn't muck up your sleep or anything- you still feel rested in the morning."

"I'll think about it." Neville had promised in return.

"Might take a bit of convincing though. Gran is doing her best with all these changes but she's struggling a bit." He admitted.

Augusta Longbottom had been invaluable helping them shake up the ministry in the beginning but they all knew that she was a proud and stubborn old woman – after fighting in the final battle and taking a few spells she didn't have the stamina that she used to, and all these changes became a bit much for her at times. She still stomped into the ministry to bash heads on occasion, but wasn't seen around as often as she had been prior to the war rekindling. It sounded like Neville had his hands full.

"Well, invite her along too – I know she's been a brilliant advisor for Hermione at the ministry and at Hogwarts too, so it's only right that she see some of what she's been working for. Maybe it'll help her." She wouldn't have to go out and see those changes herself if she didn't want to, could do it anonymously like so many others had.

"Maybe." Neville didn't seem entirely convinced, but then he'd not even seen it for himself yet so there was really no way for him to tell whether his gran would take to it or not.

"I suppose I'll look into getting the setup then, if only to take a look." He hadn't gotten this far without taking risks and jumping into the deep end after all – he was rather getting used to this whole 'bravery' thing.

"It'll be nice to have someone to play with." Harry admitted.

"Hermione is usually working so we're not actually playing together, so it's just me on my own right now. Probably for the best to be honest – she was mighty annoyed at me for wandering off and opening up the Chamber of Secrets right off the bat." Neville almost snorted his tea out of his nose at that, and Harry grinned behind his mug.

"Uh, yeah, I can imagine she'd be a bit displeased with you going off the beaten track on that one."

To be fair it was a 'only Harry could do it' kind of thing, but even so, one typically didn't wander off to such places, especially in a virtual world that was meant to be somewhat educational in nature.

"I'm surprised she put it in to be honest. I know it's meant to be a representation to match reality but even so..." There were a lot of bad memories tied to that place, and it was a dark place, though he supposed that there were other such places also in the game. It had to be real, even if reality wasn't pleasant. The young Longbottom let out a small sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"Honestly it seems a bit much, you know? Don't get me wrong, I understand the why of it, but most of us have spent our whole lives being told to keep magic a secret. Even if the mug- I mean, non-magicals don't believe that its real, it's still exposing ourselves. The worst of ourselves too, in many instances."

"Yeah, I get that." Harry admitted, looking down into the dregs of his cup idly.

"Especially cos we really aren't holding back. We're putting the dark bits in there too. The Forbidden Forest has acromantula, there are dark wizards and witches, the whole hog you know? We've tried to keep it real, to not shade it too much, but it's been hard, what with the war and all."

Magic was something amazing, but it could also be horrifying. It wouldn't help if the non-magical people were scared by the reality of it, but thankfully it hadn't been something he'd been that involved in – there was a whole team on the magical world representation that had that dubious job.

"I've not seen much of it so far though, in-game." Harry admitted. "I've mostly been exploring the map though, trying to uncover all of Hogwarts. Apparently I don't know as much as I thought I did." He was a bit disgruntled about it, but also determined to uncover the rest.

"I spent so long on it that I was getting a bit behind though, so I've had to leave it for now to progress the game. I made it to the Atrium - it looks pretty good."

Not quite true to reality because it looked a bit tidier – more like what the Atrium would look like in a few more weeks. People were still getting used to the place and some shops still hadn't made it there yet, as it took time to gather their stock. Harry had heard that Ollivander's was going to set up a new shop soon – it'd taken a long while to recover after the old shop had been burned down, but apparently he'd be opening up soon. He'd have competition though - in his absence, a small foreign store had set up to supply the magicals of Britain.

"A little unnerving I suppose, in a way." Harry admitted after a moment. "I mean, because the shops all exist in game, it's a bit strange to see the shopkeepers working, when they're not really those people, you know? They're created by the game."

The shopkeepers had all been asked if they wanted to be linked to their NPC counterparts (or be themselves in the game, though Harry didn't think any had taken that offer) and had been taken up on the offer – if only for the owners to be kept in the loop about what sort of things people liked to buy, to keep on top of any trends. They'd lack stat points in the real world of course, but Harry could understand the desire for people who found a cool outfit to want to wear it in the real world as well as the game one. He personally would enjoy his snakeskin attire in game since there was no way he'd be getting something like that in the real world! Besides, it'd ruin his anonymity, but still – he did like that outfit.

"It does sound interesting." And different, Neville supposed. Different was sort of a good thing around here, where there was so much changing.

"I suppose I'll take a look at some point though. I heard from Luna that you've created an anonymous avatar in game – I can understand the appeal of that." Neville had always been overlooked, so being noticed now was a bit discomfiting, even if it was nice to be listened to from time to time. He could only imagine how it was for Harry, Neville certainly didn't envy him.

Still, he'd heard nothing but good things about the game (for the most part, barring fear-mongering and hate-spreading from certain members of society, plus some funny catastrophe stories from Harry and Hermione) so he supposed he really should take a look at the game, if only to support his friends. Besides with Luna already playing it was inevitable that the rest would be dragged on eventually he supposed, best to go willingly than be dragged kicking and screaming.

"Anyway, I'd best get going – Hermione asked me to be online this afternoon in case we're short-handed." Harry made his apologies as Neville waved him off, well aware of the never-ending list of things needing to be done at the ministry.

"I suppose I'll see you online." Neville bade him as they walked out to the apparition point.

"I might not get on tonight, but maybe tomorrow." He promised.

"I look forward to it." Harry told him with a grin, wondering what Neville might show up looking like in the game. He'd just have to wait to find out.


End file.
